Influenza-like illness (ILI) activity in the 2015-2016 U.S. flu season declined for the first time since early January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The proportion of outpatient visits for ILI was reported at 3.2% for the week ending Feb. 20, but the CDC has adjusted that figure to 3.3%, which makes the 3.2% reported for this most recent week (week 20 of the season, ending Feb. 27, 2016) a decrease from the week before.
Despite that drop, two states were at level 10 on the CDC’s 1-10 scale of ILI activity for the first time this season. Arizona had already reached level 10, and joining it there last week was North Carolina, moving up from level 8 the week before. Other states in the “high” range of activity were Arkansas, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Utah at level 9, and Illinois and Maryland at level 8, the CDC reported March 4. Puerto Rico, which had been at level 10 for several weeks, moved down to level 8.
States in the “moderate” range of activity for the week ending Feb. 27 were Florida and New Jersey at level 7 and Alabama, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina at level 6. Altogether, there were 35 states at level 2 or higher, according to data from the CDC’s Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network.
Four pediatric ILI-related deaths were reported to the CDC during week 20, but three actually occurred during week 19. There have been 18 ILI-related deaths so far during the 2015-2016 season, the CDC said.
