No Kane County Schools Closed Due to Flu, So Far This Year
No pediatric deaths. No schools had to be closed. Only one outbreak of Influenza has been reported in an assisted-living facility.
Flu cases in Kane County have been relatively tame so far in 2014, as the flu season begins to wind down.
During Week 15 — from April 6 to April 12 — the Kane County Health Department reports that less than 3 percent of hospital emergency visits were for Influenza-Like-Illness, aka ILI.
In our schools, flu-related illnesses have accounted for less than 1 percent of the absences, according to the Kane County Health Department report for Week 15.
Kane County Health Department collects data from hospital emergency rooms, laboratories and public schools. Kane County participants have reported the following aggregate measures:
- About 2.73% of participating hospital emergency room visits was for Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI)1.
- During Week 15, labs reported that 34 of 198 (17.17%) specimens tested for influenza were positive.
- Of the 34 positive specimens tested, 5 (14.7%) were positive for influenza A, 28 (82.4%) were positive for influenza B and one (2.9%) was positive for A and B. No other specimen tested positive for week ending April 12, 2014. Influenza B continues to exceed influenza A as the season winds down.
- ILI absenteeism rate for schools in Kane County was to an average of .9%. No public school in the county had ILI absenteeism rate above the 5% threshold. No school was closed for ILI.
- As of week ending 4/12/14, 16 cumulative cases of Influenza-related ICU admissions and no pediatric deaths had been reported to the health department. No ICU admission was reported for this reporting week. The mean age for all cases reported thus far is 48 years. The age range of cases is 2 to 90 years. No Influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported.
- To date, 1 outbreak of Influenza has been reported in a Long Term Care/Assisted Living facility. There was no outbreak during this reporting week.
The health department would like to thank the participating hospitals, laboratories, individual schools and school districts that provide the reports that make this monitoring possible.
Access Full Report HERE
KCHD Website Main Flu Page: HERE
Helpful Links:
- CDC Influenza/Flu Main Page
- IDPH Influenza/Flu Main Page
- Flu.gov
- Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium Flu Resources for Health Communicators
SOURCE: Kane County Health Department report
