# 6229
While we’ve suffered no lack of flu-related stories to talk about this year, large numbers of flu cases in the Northern Hemisphere this winter hasn’t been one of them.
Flu numbers are still increasing around the United States (According to the WHO they appear to have already peaked southern Europe, North Africa, Japan and the Republic of Korea), but they remain well below seasonal levels.
We could still see a late season surge, of course. Flu is nothing if not unpredictable.
This week’s FluView provides a stark comparison between this year, and the last two flu seasons.
2011-2012 Influenza Season Week 10 ending March 10, 2012
All data are preliminary and may change as more reports are received.
Synopsis:
During week 10 (March 4-10, 2012), influenza activity remained elevated in some areas of the United States, but influenza-like-illness continued to be relatively low nationally.
- U.S. Virologic Surveillance: Of the 4,742 specimens tested by U.S. World Health Organization (WHO) and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) collaborating laboratories and reported to CDC/Influenza Division, 1,099 (23.2%) were positive for influenza.
- Pneumonia and Influenza (P&I) Mortality Surveillance: The proportion of deaths attributed to P&I was below the epidemic threshold.
- Influenza-associated Pediatric Mortality: No influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported.
- Outpatient Illness Surveillance: The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) was 2.2%, which is below the national baseline of 2.4%. Regions 5, 7, and 10 reported ILI above region-specific baseline levels. Five states experienced high ILI activity; 1 state experienced moderate ILI activity; 11 states experienced low ILI activity; New York City and 33 states experienced minimal ILI activity, and the District of Columbia had insufficient data to calculate ILI activity.
- Geographic Spread of Influenza: Fifteen states reported widespread geographic activity; 22 states reported regional influenza activity; 3 states reported local activity; the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 10 states reported sporadic activity, and Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported no influenza activity.
