Seasonal influenza activity increases in the United States

Seasonal influenza activity has increased in the United States and remains widespread in most of the country.

According to the February 8 CDC, 47 states and Puerto Rico experienced widespread seasonal influenza activity during the week ended February 2, 2019. FluView update.

H1N1 viruses have been the most commonly identified influenza viruses in the country. However, in the southeastern United States, H3N2 viruses were the major influenza viruses.

Four pediatric deaths were reported for the week ended February 2, 2019, according to CDC officials.

Two of these deaths were badociated with an H1N1 virus and two with an influenza A virus for which no subtyping was performed.

These 4 deaths are among the 28 reported cases of children who died of a flu-related illness this season.

According to the CDC, the proportion of all deaths attributable to influenza and pneumonia was below the system-specific epidemic threshold defined in the mortality monitoring system of the National Center for Health Statistics.

A total of 20.1 hospitalizations per 100,000 people were badociated with influenza. The highest hospitalization rate is for adults 65 years of age and older (53 hospitalizations per 100,000 population).

In the United States, the percentage of people seeking outpatient treatment for ILI also increased to 4.3% in the week ended February 2, which is above the national baseline of 2.2 %.

A high influenza-like illness was reported in 24 states and New York, compared to 9 states reported by the CDC on January 12, 2019. Ten other states, as well as Puerto Rico, reported moderate influenza-like illness.

An annual influenza the vaccine is recommended for anyone 6 months of age and older who has not received a flu shot this season, according to the CDC.

In addition to preventing the potentially serious complications of influenza, including death, it has been proven that influenza vaccination reduces the severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but become ill.

Reference

CDC. Influenza (flu): influenza season week 5 ending February 2, 2019. CDC FluView. cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#S3. Updated February 8, 2019. Accessed February 8, 2019.