# 3819
FluView for week 39 has been posted on the CDC’s website with the latest information available through October 3rd.
While there is a lot to absorb here, I’ll concentrate on 4 primary metrics.
First, the 122 MRS, which monitors P&I (pneumonia & Influenza) deaths across 122 cities in the United States.
After running below the (seasonably adjusted) epidemic level for the past several week, the P&I mortality rate has now climbed to reach(just barely) the epidemic level.
Second, the percentage of outpatient visits for influenza-like-illness (ILINet) is up again this week, and substantially higher than normal for this time of year.
Nationwide during week 39, 5.1% of patient visits reported through the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet) were due to influenza-like illness (ILI). This percentage is above the national baseline of 2.4%.
And third, the pediatric influenza-associated deaths added this past week totaled 19, with 16 of those confirmed to have come from the novel H1N1 virus, and 3 from un-typed Influenza A.
Some of these fatalities come from July and August, as sometimes these reports take time to come in. It should be noted that to have any pediatric flu deaths in August and September is unusual.
Nineteen influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported to CDC during week 39 (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland [2], North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee [3], Texas [7], and Wisconsin).
Sixteen of these deaths were associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection and three were associated with influenza A virus, for which subtype is undetermined. These deaths occurred between July 19 and October 3, 2009.
Since September 28, 2008, CDC has received 147 reports of influenza-associated pediatric deaths that occurred during the current influenza season (28 deaths in children less than 2 years, 15 deaths in children 2-4 years, 45 deaths in children 5-11 years, and 59 deaths in individuals 12-17 years). Seventy-six of the 147 deaths were due to 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infections, and 29 of these have occurred since August 30, 2009.
And lastly, a snapshot of the prevalence of flu around the country.
- Widespread influenza activity was reported by 37 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming).
- Regional influenza activity was reported by Guam and 11 states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin)..
- Local influenza activity was reported by the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and two states (Hawaii and Vermont).
- The U.S. Virgin Islands did not report.
