The rate of serious influenza cases in Kane County is the highest in the past decade — and possibly the highest ever recorded — for this time of year, according to the Friday report from the Kane County Health Department.

The weekly influenza surveillance report, which includes the collection of data from hospital emergency rooms, laboratories, and public schools, reported that 7.3 percent of emergency room visits in Kane County’s five hospitals were for influenza-like illness.

That number is the highest for Week 11 since at least 2009-10. It’s also far higher than the national average, which was 4.4 percent for Week 11.

Percentage of ER visits is considered one of the best measures of the seriousness of the impact of the flu virus locally.

This year’s stats show an unusual uptick for this time of year. As the chart indicates, the flu season usually peaks in December, January or early February.

As of Week 11, there were 25 influenza-related ICU admissions reported to the Health Department.

One influenza- associated pediatric death has been reported.

To date, four outbreaks of influenza have been reported in Long-Term Care/Assisted Living facilities in Kane County.

During Week 11 — which is the week ending March 16 — six labs reported that 265 of 935 specimens tested for influenza were positive. Of these:

• 245 (92.5%) were positive for Influenza A
• 19 (7.2%) were positive for Influenza B
• (0.4%) was positive for Influenza A/B

According to the Centers for Disease Control, influenza activity remains elevated in the United States.

Eight influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported to CDC during Week 11. A total of 76 influenza-associated pediatric deaths occurring during the 2018-2019 season have been reported to CDC.

Additional information on influenza-associated pediatric deaths including basic demographics, underlying conditions, bacterial co-infections, and place of death for the current and past seasons, is available on FluView Interactive.

A total of 13,604 laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations were reported by FluSurv-NET sites between Oct.1, 2018, and March 16, 2019.

The overall hospitalization rate was 47.1 per 100,000 population. The highest rate of hospitalization was among adults aged ≥65 (146.0 per 100,000 population), followed by adults aged 50-64 (61.0 per 100,000 population) and children aged 0-4 (59.0 per 100,000 population).

Among 13,604 hospitalizations, 13,040 (95.9%) were associated with influenza A virus.

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department, CDC