This week’s full report covers flu, Covid-19 and RSV in all 13 Western states, plus bird flu in Oregon dairy cattle and measles in Utah wastewater. Try it free for 7 days, then $5 a month. Cancel online anytime.
Influenza-like illness
Flu is still climbing in the West, continuing a 14-week streak. Emergency department (ED) visits for influenza rose from 2.2% to 2.6%, and outpatient influenza-like illness rose from 3.3% to 3.8%. Flu test positivity is 15.6%, again the highest of the four regions. There were some data delays though, so that's a tentative report.
The weekly gains in ED visits have been steady, at about 0.4 points a week for three weeks. Activity is rising, but the growth is not accelerating. Flu here is still six to seven weeks ahead of last season.
Severe illness is rising as well. Hospital admissions for influenza rose about 10% for a second week, to 2.8 per 100,000. That is about eight times as high as this time last year.
Unfortunately, Hawaii is not past its peak after all. Last week I wrote that it might be turning a corner, but flu's share of ED visits jumped from 5.7% to 6.7%, the highest in the country. Outpatient illness also rose there, to 4.6%. Washington and Oregon are speeding up too. ED visits rose from 2.6% to 3.4% in Washington and from 1.6% to 2.4% in Oregon. Be careful out there!
