Kane County’s Influenza Surveillance Report for Week 12 confirms what a lot of parents already know: More people are getting sick, and more kids are missing school.

According to the Kane County Health Department report, which includes data from hospital emergency rooms, laboratories and public schools, about 31 percent of the lab tests were positive for flu, and the vast majority of those (222 out of 227) were Influenza B.

Here are the aggregate measures:

• About 4.05 percent of participating hospital emergency room visits were for Influenza-Like-Illness. This rate shows a 25 percent  increase from the previous week.
• During Week 12, labs reported that 237 of 765 (30.98 percent) specimens tested for influenza were positive. Of the 237 positive specimens tested, 11 tested positive for influenza A, 222 (93.67 percent) were positive for influenza B, and four for influenza A and B co-infection. No other specimen tested positive for week ending March 28, 2015.

• ILI absenteeism rate for schools in Kane County was 0.37 percent on average, a slight increase from the previous week. No public school in the county had an ILI absenteeism rate above the 5 percent threshold. No school was closed for ILI.

• As of week ending March 28, a total of 43 cases of Influenza-related ICU admissions were reported to the Health Department. Of these, one new case was reported for this reporting week. The mean age for all cases reported thus far is 70 years old. The age range of cases is 21 to 95 years. No Influenza-associated pediatric deaths have been reported.

• To date, seven outbreaks of Influenza have been reported in Long Term Care/Assisted Living facilities in Kane County. No outbreaks were reported during this reporting week.

Read More