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Influenza-like illness
Still not much happening. Influenza-like illness activity (which is visits to the doctor for fever and cough or sore throat, also known as ILI) is at 1.6%, about the same as the week prior. Emergency department (ED) visits for influenza are drifting up, but remain below 0.5%.
Current activity is pretty typical for this time of year. I don’t expect a particularly early season, which means there is no immediate hurry to get vaccinated. Before Halloween should be adequate; I’ll let you know if my recommendation on timing changes.
The South has seen a slight decrease in activity, from a recent high of 1.8% to 1.7%. However, I do note that Florida has rising levels of influenza activity as measured by outpatient ILI, ED visits, and hospitalizations. I'll keep an eye on this in the weeks ahead. A few other states are also a bit high. In the Northeast, New Jersey stands out with 2.7% outpatient ILI and in the West, Alaska is reporting rising activity across several indicators.
As always, young kids have the highest levels of activity. Outpatient ILI has risen steadily in children ages 0-4 since mid-August. People ages 5-24 have seen some relief following an initial back-to-school rise. Adults are in pretty good shape.
COVID-19
National Trend
Covid-19 activity has peaked for most regions of the country and is now declining slowly. Around 0.5% of visits to the emergency department are for Covid-19, down from a Labor Day peak of 0.6%. Wastewater concentration is jumping around a bit at the regional level, but is mostly flat. Hospitalizations are holding steady and test positivity is declining.
