Current Trends Update: Influenza Activity -- United States
Influenza outbreaks continue to be widely reported throughout
the
United States. For the week ending February 14, 1986, 19 states*
and
the District of Columbia reported widespread outbreaks of
influenza-like illness, and 18 states** reported regional
outbreaks.
This is the second consecutive week with more states reporting
outbreaks than for any week since January 1981. Preliminary
tallies
of patients with influenza-like illnesses seen by the network of
family physiciansS nationwide averaged 11.5 cases for the reporting
week ending February 5, compared with the 10.8 average for the
preceding week and the maximum 11-12 cases for the two preceding
seasons.
The numbers of influenza viruses isolated by the collaborating
diagnostic laboratories continued to increase, with 83% of the
reports
for the 2 most recent weeks represented by type B, and 17%, by type
A(H3N2). Maine (type B virus) and Vermont (virus types A(H3N2) and
B)
reported their first influenza isolates of the season. Forty-three
states have now reported type B virus isolates; 26 states, type
A(H3N2) isolates; and 25 states, both types.
The percentage of pneumonia and influenza deaths reported from
the
121 U.S. cities for the week ending February 14 was 6.2%, compared
with the 5.8% for the preceding 2 weeks.
Reported by State and Territorial Epidemiologists; State Laboratory
Directors; Statistical Svcs Br, Div of Surveillance and
Epidemiologic
Studies, Div of Field Svcs, Epidemiology Program Office, WHO
Collaborating Center for Influenza, Influenza Br, Div of Viral
Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
*Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana,
Nebraska,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin,
and
Wyoming.
**Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois,
Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota,
Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas.
SCases reported by those members of the American Academy of Family
Physicians Research Panel who serve as sentinel physicians for
influenza.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML documents published before January 1993 are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
