CDC: Influenza Rates Continue to Increase in 2017
Based on data available on February 9, 2017, 23 states are currently reporting influenza activity that is much higher than average.
The CDC reported that 7.9% of deaths occurring during the week ending in January 21, 2017 were attributed to pneumonia and influenza, which is above the epidemic threshold of 7.4%.
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Further, “a total of 20 influenza-associated pediatric deaths have been reported for the 2016-2017 season,” the report stated, 5 of which occurred in the first 5 weeks of 2017.
High levels of influenza-like illness (ILI) activity was reported in 23 states, predominately in southern states, and moderate ILI was reported in 10 states. In addition, the geographical spread of influenza was reported as “widespread” by 43 states and Puerto Rico.
The cumulative rate for the flu season thus far is 24.3 laboratory confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations per of 100,000 individuals. Adults over the age of 50 had the highest rates for hospitalization, with the rate for adults aged 65 years and older at 113.5 per 100,000 people, and the rate for adults aged 50 to 64 years at 23.5 per 100,000 people. Hospitalization rates in children 0 to 4 were 13.6 out of 100,000. The proportion of outpatient visits for ILI was 4.8%, above the national baseline of 2.2%.
For the entire 2016-2017 influenza season, there have been 6804 hospitalizations, the majority of which were associated with Influenza A virus (93.6%), and 98.4% of patients were infected with subtype A(H3N2). The strain is covered under the current flu vaccine.
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
2016-2017 influenza season week 5 ending February 4, 2017. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/#S2. Updated February 10, 2017. Accessed February 13, 2017.