News from the FDA/CDC

Outpatient flu visits down slightly

Publish date: February 27, 2017
By
Richard Franki

 

The overall national measure of outpatient flu activity was down for the week ending Feb. 18, and the number of states at the highest level of activity dropped from 25 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The national proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) decreased from 5.2% the previous week to 4.8% for the week ending Feb. 18, the CDC reported.

Influenza-like illness activity level, week ending Feb. 18, 2017
In addition to the 24 states at level 10 on the CDC’s 1-10 scale of ILI activity, three other states were in the “high” range (8-10): Alaska, Michigan, and Wyoming were all at level 8, data from the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network show.

There were 5 ILI-related pediatric deaths reported during the week, bringing the total to 34 for the season so far, but none of the 5 occurred in the current week, the CDC said. There were 89 pediatric deaths reported during the 2015-2016 season, with the peak week occurring in late March/early April (11 deaths). During the 2014-2015 season, there were 148 deaths reported, and 111 were reported in 2013-2014.

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Twenty-five states at highest flu activity level