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Influenza Surveillance Report for MMWR Week 8
The flu activity level for the week ending February 24, 2007 is widespread. This is the fifth consecutive week of the season that widespread activity has been reported. Widespread activity indicates that at least half of the regions are experiencing an increase in ILI and lab-confirmed (by culture) flu has been identified in those regions.
The DSHS laboratory isolated influenza in specimens collected during week 8 from the following counties:
A/H1 | A/H3 | B/Malaysia |
Bexar | Jim Hogg | Travis | | Travis | |
Colorado | Jim Wells | | | | |
Dallas | San Patricio | | | | |
Deaf Smith | Starr | | | | |
Duval | Travis | | | | |
Scott and White Laboratory reported culture confirmed influenza A from Bell, Brazos, Falls, Hill, McLennan, Milam and Waller Counties and culture confirmed influenza B from Bell, Burnet, and McLennan Counties.
CDC has confirmed that one of the isolates submitted by the DSHS lab for strain characterization has been identified as A/Solomon Islands/3/2006-like (H1N1). The specimen was collected on 12/20/06 from a patient in Galveston County. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an increasing proportion of viruses tested by hemagglutination-inhibition have shown greater antigenic similarity to A/Solomon Islands/3/2006 than to A/New Caledonia/20/99 (the current H1N1 vaccine component). Based on these results, WHO has recommended that an A/Solomon Islands/3/2006-like (H1N1) virus be included in the 2007-2008 vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere.
During week 8, one school closure was reported in Clay County due to high absenteeism rates most likely associated with flu. An ISD in Sabine County reported absenteeism rates as high as 12% due to influenza-like illness.
Seventy-one sentinel providers reported influenza-like illness (ILI) for week 8. Of all patient visits during this week, 8.51% were due to ILI. This is the highest of the season to date and more than twice the baseline. The baseline for Texas is 3.71%. The baseline is the mean percentage of patient visits for ILI during non-influenza weeks for the previous three seasons plus two standard deviations.
Percentage of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) Reported by Sentinel Providers in Texas as of 2/26/07 |
Week | # Reporting | Age 0-4 | Age 5-24 | Age 25-64 | Age over 64 | Total ILI | Total Patients | % ILI |
2006-40 |
61 |
71 |
120 |
65 |
9 |
265 |
15479 |
1.71 |
2006-41 |
59 |
104 |
126 |
93 |
14 |
337 |
16457 |
2.04 |
2006-42 |
77 |
250 |
187 |
154 |
44 |
635 |
25223 |
2.51 |
2006-43 |
77 |
219 |
188 |
153 |
20 |
580 |
23296 |
2.48 |
2006-44 |
72 |
235 |
254 |
164 |
39 |
692 |
22504 |
3.07 |
2006-45 |
71 |
356 |
249 |
182 |
42 |
829 |
22660 |
3.65 |
2006-46 |
71 |
495 |
312 |
228 |
62 |
1097 |
24033 |
4.56 |
2006-47 |
76 |
450 |
277 |
237 |
95 |
1009 |
19958 |
5.05 |
2006-48 |
78 |
442 |
275 |
302 |
70 |
1089 |
24495 |
4.44 |
2006-49 |
84 |
374 |
325 |
283 |
96 |
1078 |
24229 |
4.44 |
2006-50 |
72 |
387 |
381 |
252 |
80 |
1100 |
22227 |
4.94 |
2006-51 |
67 |
349 |
259 |
187 |
50 |
845 |
17402 |
4.85 |
2006-52 |
63 |
460 |
199 |
264 |
104 |
1027 |
16039 |
6.40 |
2007-01 |
86 |
343 |
221 |
284 |
84 |
932 |
20681 |
4.50 |
2007-02 |
72 |
329 |
244 |
284 |
84 |
941 |
21819 |
4.31 |
2007-03 |
70 |
242 |
223 |
128 |
19 |
612 |
15461 |
3.95 |
2007-04 |
80 |
518 |
475 |
283 |
106 |
1382 |
24696 |
5.59 |
2007-05 |
82 |
557 |
578 |
377 |
62 |
1574 |
25804 |
6.09 |
2007-06 |
74 |
474 |
746 |
431 |
43 |
1694 |
26560 |
6.37 |
2007-07 |
74 |
474 |
746 |
462 |
71 |
1956 |
25167 |
7.77 |
2007-08 |
71 |
602 |
814 |
523 |
151 |
2090 |
24557 |
8.51 |
For more information on flu surveillance activities in the State of Texas, please visit the following website:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/influenza/surveillance/
*Influenza activity level corresponds to current MMWR week only and does not reflect previous weeks' activity.