Publication schedule: During summer months, this weekly respiratory illness report is available to paid subscribers. Beginning in October with the onset of flu season, everyone receives the national overview for free, while paid subscribers receive bonus regional reports with state-by-state details to help you understand what's happening locally.

Respiratory Diseases

Influenza-like illness

Flu is still quiet.

Influenza-like illness activity is a bit higher than this summer’s nadir, but it is still very low, accounting for 1.7% of visits to the doctor last week. Activity is also holding stable, with no marked increases after what I reported a couple weeks ago.

Even within age groups, activity is steady. Outpatient ILI has leveled off at low levels for the 0-4 and 5-24 age groups after the increase seen around the start of the school year.

All four regions of the country are quiet, but there are some flickers of activity in the South. In Louisiana, there has been a slight uptick in wastewater concentration, and in North Carolina, ED visits for flu are at 1.1%, which is substantially higher than anywhere else in the South (where the next highest rate is 0.3%).

COVID-19

The peak of the late summer wave is behind us. Activity declined in all four regions this past week, but is still on the high side compared to off-season.

Activity remains highest in the South, followed closely by the West. The Midwest and Northeast are about at equivalent, moderate levels. Emergency department visits for Covid-19 have decreased to 1.2% of all trips to the emergency department, down from 1.7% a few weeks ago. Wastewater concentration is also decreasing, as is test positivity.