Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report [CDC]

CDC (U.S. Government) ^ | December 29, 2017 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[familyop]

[Follow the link and scroll down for the following text and the map.]

ILINet State Activity Indicator Map: Data collected in ILINet are used to produce a measure of ILI activity* by state. Activity levels are based on the percent of outpatient visits in a state due to ILI and are compared to the average percent of ILI visits that occur during weeks with little or no influenza virus circulation. Activity levels range from minimal, which would correspond to ILI activity from outpatient clinics being below, or only slightly above, the average, to high, which would correspond to ILI activity from outpatient clinics being much higher than average.

During week 51, the following ILI activity levels were experienced:

21 states experienced high activity (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia).

New York City and five states experienced moderate ILI activity (Colorado, Hawaii, New York, North Dakota, and Virginia).

Eight states experienced low ILI activity (Alaska, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wyoming).

14 states experienced minimal ILI activity (Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin).

Data was insufficient to calculate an ILI activity level from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and two states (Connecticut and North Carolina).

[familyop]

"Maybe I should say that I only THINK I did not have a flu variant. Is there any information somewhere of how different 2017-2018 flu variants’ symptoms may differ?"

Not that I know of. I'm not a doctor but have paid attention to what some doctors say about it, have read some and have raised and sometimes taught a few kids, many kids, many young adults and soldiers (my own and others, schools, Army leadership schools, etc.). Participated in several crazy sports, too (noticed things about immunity in my younger days).

Flu symptoms generally and usually include fever, respiratory inflammation and all that go with those: chills, aches, headache, tiredness, runny nose, coughing,... Some flus are worse than others. An A-type flu can sometimes cause pneumonia. If I remember correctly, flus can also weaken the body somehow against a bacterium that can cause pneumonia.

Don't know if I'm exactly right on all of that, and there's probably much more info about pneumonia somewhere. If I remember correctly, pneumonia is more of a condition that can be caused by several kinds of organisms.

Vomiting is *not* often caused by an influenza, although maybe it can happen. Vomiting is probably most often caused by food poisoning. Any one of several other kinds of viruses (Norovirus, perhaps?) or one of many different kinds of bacteria can cause vomiting.

If there were vomiting, my first thought would be check hygiene, food handling or avoiding cruise ships. ;-)

Don't want to bother Mom MD, 'cause she's highly likely to be very busy most of the time, but she's pinged to this one. She knows.

[Paul R.]

Complications from the vaccine are in the 5-9% range.

Aren't most of the people with serious complications also those most at risk if they get the flu?

Granted that this is anecdotal information, but I'm over 60, in many years have been part of one organization or another of 200 - 1000+ people who got flu shots (from employer, church, etc.), not to mention all the other people my wife and I know (relatives, friends, etc. -- my wife is VERY gregarious, not to mention her having a huge Facebook "family",) and in all that time, and of all those people, I do not know of ONE person who has had any worse than a mild complication from a "flu shot."

[yadent]

‘Aren’t most of the people with serious complications also those most at risk if they get the flu?’ Probably, however the 5-9% complications rate for the majority of vaccines is within the ‘high’norm in terms of risk. My issue is in terms of proven effectiveness. Flu vaccines for any given year are an highly educated guess in terms of the probable strain/s for that particular year. With an effectiveness of 40-50% for any given year over time, for me, being healthy, the risk/benefit ratio didn’t justify my receiving it.

[familyop]

Sincerely, I’ll try to convey a little information to help. First, as you know, the world population is much larger than it has been in known history. More people are traveling great distances to foreign populations. The few “types” of flu viruses might really be better described as general categories for most of us. The number of possible genetic combinations might be...I don’t know!

Flu pandemic plans should be stepped up as number of virus strains jumps, researcher says
By medical reporter Sophie Scott
Posted April 06, 2017 11:28:33
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-06/flu-pandemic-plans-should-be-stepped-up-study-says/8421304

[familyop]

Study biology. I couldn’t stand the subject. But there are gobs of people, and lots of them have cooties! ;-)

Those descendants of east Asians know that we humans have cooties. They try to save us from their cooties by wearing masks! I saw them wearing masks at Walmart and thanked them. Nice people! They’re amazing!

So get your anti-cooties shot. ;-)

[Pining_4_TX]

Only reason it’s low here in Iowa is because it’s too dang cold to go out anywhere. Sometimes I can’t believe I moved here. The things a grandmother will do...

[Paul R.]

Thanks - Agreed on the symptoms in general - I was really looking for specifics on flu variants. This last “bug” seemed unusual because it sort of “crept up” on me over a 2 week period: Slight lung congestion that then got somewhat worse one cold day I worked outdoors for a few hours. I was warmly clothed but breathing cold, dry air, and going “in and out” a lot — the moderate coughing that produced that evening lead to a sore throat which proceeded (as often with me) quickly into full bore head cold symptoms, the worst of which lasted only a day, but then I was left with worsening chest congestion, coughing if I attempted to talk, worsening and eventual extreme fatigue. I had one morning of mild (99.4 deg. max) fever and chills as the head cold symptoms were departing, and some 2-3 days of aches (not severe), but those last may have been as much from being in bed a lot as much as anything else.

About a day after the head cold mostly left, the chest coughing actually hurt in the area(s) of both my kidneys — don’t think I’ve ever felt anything quite like that. If it’d continued I’d have gone in to a clinic, but that mostly dissipated about a day later, too.

Several days after the head cold symptoms, I’m back to slight chest congestion, almost no cough, and otherwise feeling fairly good.

Pneumonia... is basically fluid in the lungs from whatever source — my Dad had lots of trouble with aspiration into his lungs toward the end. :-(

[21twelve]

“Only reason it’s low here in Iowa is because it’s too dang cold to go out anywhere.”

The survey crew was out checking the property lines and asked permission to go on the Hanson’s farm in Iowa. A few weeks later they came back and said there was a problem - the old survey was in error.

“We don’t know how to tell you - but it seems your north pasture is in Minnesota! While your house and barn are in Iowa!!”

“Oh - for a second you gave me a start. I could never live in Minnesota with those terrible winters!”

[Jane Long]

Glad you recovered.

We have elderly relatives who are scared they will catch this flu. They have (also elderly) neighbors who’ve been bedridden, over this flu, for over a week, each.

Our relatives are staying indoors, as much as possible, for the next couple of weeks.

Stay well, everyone!!

[Jane Long]

I read someone’s post, somewhere (apologies...I can’t remember where I saw this) saying their Doctor said to be sure and cover mouth and nose (face) with a warm scarf, when going out in the cold.

Glad you’re on the mend.

[VanShuyten]

"The ingredients of a one-gram tube of Oscillococcinum are listed as follows: Active ingredient: Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum (extract of Muscovy duck liver and heart) 200CK HPUS 1×10−400 g[10] which is much less than the weight of a proton (1.67×10−24 g[10]). Inactive ingredient: 0.85 g sucrose, 0.15 g lactose (100% sugar.[11])'

[The Westerner]

I’m with you on not using flu vaccines. How do you think the huge homeless areas in places like CA will effect the incident reports? Just saw a video of one encampment near Disneyland of all places. It looks like a veritable breeding ground for mutating viruses!

[Paul R.]

Heh - You appear to be right. I looked up a moderately well known town - Ft. Dodge, IA, is -9 F & snowing, now. It looks like New Years Morning it’ll be at -20 F with wind chill of -35 F, and even wind chill of - 35 F during the day. I’d be staying in too!!!

The interactive map on the CDC site indeed seems to show the worst of the flu “moving up” from the South, with Mississippi the initial hot spot. The NE US is presently also not too badly hit (with flu) but unusually cold for that area.

[Mom MD]

You are correct:, influenza is a respiratory Illness. It is not generally associated with vomiting although one can certainly cough until they vomit. The vomiting illness is correctly labeled gastroenteritis although both Illnesses are called “flu”.

[yadent]

A couple of years back there was a measles outbreak in the US with one of the ‘hot spots’ being near Disneyland. Happens that there are quite a few ‘illegals’ living within the shadows of the park. San Diego is now experiencing a serious Hep A outbreak due to public defecation in it’s downtown area. Again, illegals and homeless. Illegals aren’t just an economic drain but a serious health risk. Virtually none are screened for communicable diseases. The homeless are great political pawns creating lax public hygiene policies to both soothe progressive guilt and generate public spending to solve a created problem. The incident reports will be massaged to generate the desired results/benefits.

[familyop]

"Several days after the head cold symptoms, I’m back to slight chest congestion, almost no cough, and otherwise feeling fairly good."

Good! Now, whatever you can do to strengthen immunity. Hopefully, you can get around enough to increase wind endurance. I'm glad your kidneys aren't hurting. That is scary! Sounds like an infection in the kidneys, although it could have been something else.

I had a flu in the spring of 2015 that left me with trouble breathing for a couple of years (extremely cold climate). Was too fat and have been getting much more physically busy and sleeping more to remedy that. Maybe adding a part time service job would be best. Maybe I wasn't made to be sitting at a desk most of the time.

A middle aged (younger) relative told me that he had a pain in his lower right side every time when trying to walk. Besides seeing a doctor, I told him to try laying on his back every day, lifting his arms and legs a little and waving them back and forth and lifting them for a while. Hey, it's better than resigning to croaking early.

[Paul R.]

I can understand that - it's been my "rational" in some years when I was "too busy" (or "whatever") to bother with a flu shot.

But, I wonder: How many more people might I have carried flu to by having a mild case instead of my body trouncing it quickly with the aid of a vaccination?

My other question is whether you are overestimating the risks of vaccination: How much of the 5-9% "complications rate" is actually something that would significantly negatively affect a healthy person? As I said, in my family's "circle", we have to be talking about, oh, goodness, over the years at least 4-8 thousand flu vaccinations of mostly but not all healthy people where we'd have had a pretty good chance of hearing about some serious complication occurring, if it did, and I've never heard of ANY, in that group.

[The Westerner]

If they massage the data, they are creating more health hazards really. I’ve been against government run medicine, especially NIH, since reading Atlas Shrugged. There is an eloquent defense of freedom and doctors in there.

[Paul R.]

Agreed.

Meanwhile, if like my wife one immigrates here legally, at least in the past, one gets a VERY thorough exam at a US approved hospital, before a Visa is issued.

Then there’s the FBI check on the immigrant, and the rectal job on the US spouse / fiancé / fiancée (oh, I’d better stop here!!! Way OT!!!)

[familyop]

"I received a quadrivalent vaccine produced in cells this year. No chicken embryos died this year to make my flu vaccine!"

Oh, no! Those poor baby chickens! What did they ever do to me?

:-(