Reports of influenza-like morbidity, virus isolates, and
mortality
from state epidemiologists, family physicians, and health officials
in
121 U.S. cities continue to indicate increased influenza activity
during January. Wyoming reported widespread outbreaks, and eight
states (California, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico,
Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Utah) reported regional outbreaks for the week ending
January 19, 1985. By January 22, influenza virus isolates had been
reported from 27 states (26 with type A(H3N2) isolates, five with
type
B isolates, and one (Texas) with type A(H1N1)), compared with the
nine
states where influenza virus had been reported at the end of
December. Only type A(H3N2) viruses have been associated with
outbreaks. Family physicians who report weekly to CDC reported an
average of eight patients with influenza-like illnesses for the
reporting week ending January 9. This is about twice the average
reported before influenza activity began but only about half of the
average 14 cases weekly reported at the peak of the 1983-1984
influenza epidemic, when many outbreaks of type A(H1N1) influenza
were
occurring.
Of total deaths reported from 121 U.S. cities, the percentage
attributed to influenza and pneumonia (P&I) (Table IV) increased
from
a range of 4.8 to 5.0 in December to one of 5.5 and 5.7 in
mid-January. P&I ratios in excess of 5% rarely occur in the
absence
of influenza epidemics, and the last time the percentage of deaths
attributed to P&I exceeded 5.5% was in 1980-1981. In that
epidemic,
when many type A(H2N3) virus outbreaks were occurring, the P&I
ratio
peaked at 7.0.
Reported by State and Territorial Epidemiologists; State Laboratory
Directors; G Kobayashi, Hawaii Dept of Health; R Webster, PhD, St
Jude
Hospital, Memphis, P Wright, MD, M Kervina, MS, Vanderbilt
University,
Nashville, S Fricker, MPH, Tennessee State Dept of Health &
Environment; N Swack, PhD, Iowa Dept of Health; Other collaborating
laboratories; Participating physicians of the American Academy of
Family Physicians; Statistical Svcs Br, Div of Surveillance and
Epidemiologic Studies, Epidemiology Program Office, Influenza Br,
Div
of Viral Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
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