America's North Shore Journal

The official end of summer is this week along America’s North Shore and that means schools from pre-K to college level are in sessions. This also signals the expected second wave of pandemic influenza, pandemic swine flu. The CDC report on influenza and influenza like illnesses (ILI) is for the week ending September 12, 2009.

Percentage of Visits for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) Reported by the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet), National Summary 2008-2009 and Previous Two Seasons for Week Ending September 12, 2009 - CDC

Traveling across the northern tier of states, the New England region had a very low incidence of ILI from reporting doctors and facilities.

New York and New Jersey are significantly different. Over five percent of the visits to reporting doctors were for ILI. That approaches the numbers seen during the spring wave of pandemic swine flu. This week, week 36, fall into the same levels as weeks 21-25 as the CDC records the year.

The Midwest region is the peak for ILI reporting for the last 52 weeks. The percentage, 3.1%, is higher than during the sprint wave of pandemic flu. Since the Chicago metro area and the Milwaukee metro area led the United States in recorded H1N1 cases last spring, this datum suggest that the illness has returned and is even more widespread.

The Northern Rockies are near their peak from the late winter.

The Northwest had its reports of ILI climb in the week ending September 12. The percentage is still below the spring peaks, and the next few weeks should tell us if this was a spike or the pandemic has returned in strength. the Seattle metro area was among the nation’s leaders in the spring.

Here’s what the CDC has to say about the week ending September 12.

• Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness (ILI) are increasing nationally. Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness are higher than what is expected during this time of year and have increased for five consecutive weeks now. This is very unusual for this time of year.
• Total influenza hospitalization rates for adults and children are similar to or lower than seasonal influenza hospitalization rates depending on age group, but are higher than expected for this time of year.
• The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was low and within the bounds of what is expected at this time of year.
• Twenty-one states are reporting widespread influenza activity at this time. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Any reports of widespread influenza activity in September are very unusual.
• Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These viruses remain similar to the viruses chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine, and remain susceptible to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir with rare exceptions.