Influenza Report: Flu Still Active in Kane County
The flu just keeps hanging on in Kane County, IL, neither spiking through the roof nor fizzling away.
The Kane County Health Department’s weekly influenza surveillance survey — which includes data from hospital emergency rooms, laboratories and public schools — shows the percentage of emergency room visits is still relatively high.
So far this season, there has been one infant death and 10 flu-related cases that have gone to the intensive care unit.
Participants reported the following aggregate measures in a report on Week 5, which was released Friday, Feb. 8:
Among five reporting hospital emergency rooms, 4.5 percent of visits were for influenza-like illness. During Week 5, six labs reported that 104 of 543 (19.1 percent) specimens tested for influenza were positive.
Of these 104 specimens:
- 92 (88.5%) were positive for Influenza A
- 11 (10.6%) was positive for Influenza B
- 1 (1.0%) was positive for Influenza A/B
No other specimen tested positive for the week ending on Feb. 02, 2019.
During Week 5, public school districts were closed due to extreme cold, so there weren’t any statistics regarding flu-related absences.
As mentioned above, there were 10 influenza-related ICU admissions reported to the Health Department. One influenza-associated pediatric death has been reported so far during the flu season.
To date, no outbreaks of influenza have been reported in long-term care/assisted living facilities in Kane County.
Access Full Report: HERE.
KCHD Website Main Flu Page: HERE
Nationwide
Influenza activity increased in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, influenza A(H3N2), and influenza B viruses continue to co-circulate.
Below is a summary of the key influenza indicators for the week ending Feb. 2, 2019:
Viral Surveillance: The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza viruses in clinical laboratories increased. Influenza A viruses have predominated in the United States since the beginning of October.
Influenza-like Illness Surveillance: The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) increased to 4.3 percent, which is above the national baseline of 2.2 percent. All 10 regions reported ILI at or above their region-specific baseline level.
Influenza-associated Hospitalizations A cumulative rate of 20.1 laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations per 100,000 population was reported.
The highest hospitalization rate is among adults 65 years and older (53.0 hospitalizations per 100,000 population).
Pneumonia and Influenza Mortality: The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was below the system-specific epidemic threshold in the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Surveillance System.
Influenza-associated Pediatric Deaths: Four influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported to CDC during week 5.
