Flu Activity Reaches Highest Point in Nearly a Decade

The percentage of patients seeing their health care providers for influenza-like illness (ILI) has reached its highest point since the 2009 pandemic, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As of January 20, 2018, approximately 6.6% of Americans have seen their providers for ILI, surpassing the national baseline of 2.2%. So far this season, ILI has been at or above the national baseline for 8 weeks.
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New York, Puerto Rico, and 39 other states have experienced high ILI activity this season, while the District of Columbia and 5 other states have experienced moderate activity, and Alaska and 2 other states have experienced low activity.

A total of 11,965 laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations have been reported in the United States since October 1, 2017 (41.9 hospitalizations per 100,000 people).

The report also notes that the proportion of deaths due to pneumonia and influenza has risen sharply to 9.1% as of January 6, 2018. A total of 37 pediatric deaths have occurred during this influenza season.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Situation update: summary of weekly FluView activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 26, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/summary.htm. Accessed on January 29, 2018.