Influenza is officially “widespread” in the state of Illinois and numbers in Kane County are way up, according to reports by the Centers For Disease Control and the Kane County Health Department.

The Health Department on Friday (Jan. 3, 2020) released its weekly influenza report for Week 52, which ended Dec. 28, 2019, showing a fairly dramatic rise in influenza-related illnesses here.

According to the report:

• Among five reporting Kane County hospital emergency rooms, 8.5% of visits were for influenza-like illness (ILI). That percentage is up from about 6 percent the previous week.
• During Week 52, the five labs reported that 257 of 973 (26.4%) specimens tested for influenza were positive. Of these 257 specimens, 110 (42.8%) were positive for Influenza A and 147 (57.2%) were positive for Influenza B.
• Schools were not in session on Wednesday, Dec. 25, so no influenza absenteeism data was reported.
• As of the week ending Dec. 28, there have been six influenza-related ICU admission reported to the health department.
• To date, no outbreaks of influenza have been reported in Long-Term Care/Assisted Living facilities in Kane County.

National Numbers High

CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 6.4 million flu illnesses, 55,000 hospitalizations and 2,900 deaths from flu.

The red line shows the percentage of visits for ILI for the 2019-20 flu season.

Seasonal influenza activity in the United States is high and continues to increase. Activity has been elevated for eight weeks.

Influenza activity is high nationally with outpatient visits for ILI and the percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza at levels similar to what have been seen at the peak of recent seasons.

Influenza B/Victoria viruses are predominant nationally, which is unusual for this time of year. A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses are the next most common. A(H3N2) and B/Yamagata viruses are circulating at very low levels.

• Click this link to see the Kane County Flu Surveillance reports.

Who Should Get the Flu Vaccine?

Everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine every year by the end of October, if possible. However, getting vaccinated later is OK.

Vaccination should continue throughout the flu season, even in January or later. Individuals traveling should get vaccinated at least two weeks before travel as it takes two weeks for vaccine immunity to develop after vaccination.

Some children who have received flu vaccine previously and children who have only received one dose in their lifetime, may need two doses of flu vaccine. A health care provider can advise on how many doses a child should get. It is especially important for certain individuals to get vaccinated. These include:

Individuals who are at a high risk of developing serious complications like pneumonia if they get sick with the flu.

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department