Flu Activity Increases In New York: CDC

At least 41 children have died from flu-related causes, with seven child deaths reported in the week ending Feb.16, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flu activity continues to increase and, with the exception of West Virginia, the disease is now widespread in every state, including New York.

The H1N1 virus (swine flu) continues to be the predominant strain in most of the country, while the H3N2 virus is most prevalent in the Southeast. FDA Director Scott Gottlieb has said the H1N1 strain tends to peak late in the season but that the vaccine to protect against it has an effectiveness of 60 percent or greater.

Early estimates from the CDC found that by mid-November 2018, 45.6 percent of children between 6 months and 17 years old had been vaccinated against the flu, an increase of 6.8 percent compared to early estimates from the previous season. For adults 18 and older, the CDC’s estimates showed that by mid-November, 44.9 percent had been vaccinated against the flu, an increase of 6.4 percent compared to early estimates from the previous season.

The latest figures released by the CDC on Friday are current for the week ending Feb.16. Between Oct. 1, 2018, through Feb.16, the CDC estimates there have been between 17.7 million to 20.4 million flu illnesses in the United States, 8.2 million to 9.6 million flu-related medical visits and between 214,000-256,000 flu hospitalizations.

The only state not reporting widespread flu activity is West Virginia. The geographic spread of flu activity does not measure the severity of the virus.

The CDC’s influenza-like-illness (ILI) surveillance measures the level of flu activity within a state. According to the latest ILI data, New York City and 30 states have high flu activity. However, the ILI surveillance does not measure geographic spread, so the CDC cautions that outbreaks in a single city could cause a state to have high flu activity.

The New York State Department of Health has categorized flu activity as geographically widespread. This is the 10th consecutive week that such activity has been reported. All counties in the state reported 10 or more cases of the flu per 100,000 population. The range of incidents is from 13.38 to 215.54 cases per 100,000.

For the week ending Feb. 16, there were 9,376 lab-confirmed influenza reports, which is 9 percent above last week. However, the number of patients hospitalized with confirmed flu was 10 percent less than last week.

One influenza-associated pediatric death was reported this week, bringing the total to three for this season.

To see where flu is widespread click here.

The flu can cause serious illness, hospitalization and death. The groups most at risk are older adults, very young children, pregnant women and those with certain chronic medical conditions, according to the CDC.

You can use the CDC’s flu vaccine finder to locate a pharmacy or clinic near you that provides the vaccine:

According to the CDC, symptoms of the flu include:

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills (though not everyone with flu will have a fever)
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.