Thursday 25 March 2021
The main points from this weeks national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report are:
Surveillance indicators suggest that at a national level COVID-19 activity remained stable across week 11 of 2021.
Case rates have increased across those aged 5 to 19 and have fallen in all other age groups.
Case rates are now highest in those aged 10 to 19, with a case rate of 100.7 per 100,000 population.
The lowest case rates continue to be in those aged 70 to 79, with a rate of 13.3 per 100,000 population.
Case rates per 100,000 have fallen across all regions except Yorkshire and the Humber, where they continue to be highest at 110.4.
Case rates per 100,000 are lowest in the South West, with a rate of 28.4.
The number of acute respiratory infection incidents in England was 233 in week 10, compared to 260 in the previous week.
The hospital admission rate for COVID-19 has fallen and was 3.49 per 100,000 in week 11, compared to 4.68 per 100,000 in the previous week.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 have fallen across all regions.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 continue to be highest in Yorkshire and the Humber, with a rate of 5.04.
The highest hospital admission rates continue to be those aged 85 and above.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England said:
Flu Cases Plummeted During The 2020
With social distancing measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, confirmed cases of influenza plummeted during the 2020-2021 flu season.
According to data published on the CDC’s website, U.S. clinical health labs and public health labs reported just 2,124 confirmed flu cases between Sept. 27, 2020 and May 15, 2021 .
Those 2,124 cases represent an extreme decline in the spread of the flu compared to the 2019-2020 season. Between October 2019 and April 2020, the CDC estimated that at least 39 million people contracted the flu.
It wasn’t just the U.S. The World Health Organization says that worldwide flu cases also fell to minuscule levels during the 2020-2021 flu season.
It’s clear that social distancing and universal mask mandates impacted the plummeting levels of flu cases in the winter of 2020 and 2021. Data from the CDC shows that patients visiting doctor’s offices for influenza-like illnesses plummeted in March and April of 2020 and have remained low ever since.
But while decreased levels of flu cases may seem like a welcome sign, it’s in some ways left doctors in the dark on how they plan to handle the next flu season.
Scientific American reports that each year’s flu vaccine is based on strains of influenza that have been circulating the previous season. In February, the WHO made recommendations for next year’s vaccine but was forced to do so on much less information than they have in previous years.
New Hospital Patients With Influenza
In recent years, the flu season has peaked at an average of 12,500 diagnosed weekly cases, usually in late January or February, but most cases go undiagnosed. The C.D.C. estimates the number of annual flu cases over the past decade has been between nine million and 41 million.
It is not yet clear how severe this season will be, but the virus will most likely continue to spread in the weeks to come, Dr. Olsen said, and the flu strain that is now the most dominant in the U.S. has in the past been linked to more-severe flu seasons.
That dominant virus, which is a strain of H3N2, is not among the types of flu that this seasons vaccine specifically guards against. That means the flu vaccine may be less effective against that strain, said Richard Webby, a virologist at the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis. But, he said, it is still worth getting immunized.
Even though it’s not a perfect match, and it may not provide you with that protection from getting infected, it’s still going to protect you from getting more severe disease, Dr. Webby said.
Dr. Olsen laid out several possible scenarios for the coming flu season. Cases could peak later in the year than usual, or they could drop off sooner than expected. Or there is still a chance that cases remain lower than what was normal before the pandemic.
Of course, we could also experience a more typical season, she said. It is too soon to know.
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How Many People Die From The Flu Each Year
The answer is slightly complicated: The CDC doesnt have an exact count of the number of people who die from influenza each year. Instead, the federal agency develops estimates based on rates of confirmed hospitalizations from the flu.
For that reason, its difficult to compare flu deaths with those of COVID-19, which are actual documented deaths, says , associate professor of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. In fact, COVID-19 deaths are being tracked by confirmed cases, but there are still going to be numbers of unconfirmed cases so the deaths from COVID-19 are probably higher then what is being reported, Dr. Hicar says. So far, nearly 51 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19, resulting in more than more than 803,000 deaths, per the latest data from the CDC.
Compared to the 2019-2020 flu season, for example, the CDC estimated that more than 38 million became sick with influenza, leading to 400,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths. Thats slightly lower than the 2018-2019 season and significantly less than the 2017-2018 season .
Thursday 4 March 2021
The main points from this weeks national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report are:
Surveillance indicators suggest that COVID-19 activity decreased nationally in week 8 of 2021, from 22 to 28 February.
Case rates have decreased across all age groups, with the highest rate 121.1 per 100,000 population seen in those aged between 30 to 39 years old.
Case rates per 100,000 have fallen across all regions they are highest in the East Midlands, with a rate of 120.8.
Case rates per 100,000 are lowest in the South West with a rate of 43.2.
The number of acute respiratory infection incidents in England was 431 in week 8, compared to 498 in the previous week.
The hospital admission rate for COVID-19 has fallen and was 8.37 per 100,000 in week 8, compared to 11.90 per 100,000 in the previous week.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 have fallen across all regions.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 continue to be highest in the West Midlands with a rate of 13.51.
The highest hospital admission rates continue to be those aged 85 and above.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England, said:
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Thursday 15 July 2021
The main points from this weeks national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report are:
Surveillance indicators suggest that at a national level COVID-19 activity increased in week 27 of 2021.
Case rates rose in all age groups with the most significant increase seen in younger age groups.
Case rates continued to be highest in those aged 20 to 29, with a 7-day rate of 747.3 per 100,000 population.
The lowest case rates were in those aged 80 and above, with a 7-day rate of 39.9 per 100,000 population.
Seven-day case rates per 100,000 population increased across all regions.
Seven-day case rates per 100,000 population were highest in the North East at 835.8.
Case rates per 100,000 were lowest in the South East, with a 7-day rate of 249.4.
The number of acute respiratory infection incidents in England was 641 in week 27, compared to 623 in the previous week.
The hospital admission rate for week 27 was 4.43 per 100,000 population, in the previous week it was 2.76 per 100,000 population.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 were highest in the North West, with a rate of 10.46 per 100,000 population.
The highest hospital admission rates continue to be those aged 85 and above.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England, said:
Influenza Case Counts Are Updated On Fridays
- is available.
Influenza is a contagious, upper-respiratory disease caused by different strains of influenza viruses. While many people use the imprecise term “flu” to describe 24 or 48 hour bouts of illness, real influenza can interfere with normal daily activities for as long as a week. Influenza is not a minor inconvenience. As many as 200,000 Americans are hospitalized because of it each year, and as many as 36,000 die of the disease or complications associated with it. Children under age 1, adults 65 or older and people suffering from certain medical conditions are at a higher risk of serious complications.
Flu prevention posters
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Thursday 29 July 2021
The main points from this weeks national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report are:
Surveillance indicators suggest that at a national level COVID-19 activity decreased in some indicators in week 29 of 2021.
Case rates continued to be highest in those aged 10 to 19, with a 7-day rate of 657.6 per 100,000 population.
The lowest case rates were in those aged 80 and above, with a 7-day rate of 65.8 per 100,000 population.
Seven-day case rates per 100,000 population decreased across all regions.
Seven-day case rates per 100,000 population were highest in the North East at 520.9.
Case rates per 100,000 were lowest in the East of England, with a 7-day rate of 298.7.
The number of acute respiratory infection incidents in England was 600 in week 29, compared to 725 in the previous week.
The hospital admission rate for week 29 was 7.06 per 100,000 population, in the previous week it was 6.06 per 100,000 population.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 were highest in the North East, with a rate of 14.69 per 100,000 population.
The highest hospital admission rates continue to be those aged 85 and above.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England, said:
Additional National And International Influenza Surveillance Information
FluView Interactive: FluView includes enhanced web-based interactive applications that can provide dynamic visuals of the influenza data collected and analyzed by CDC. These FluView Interactive applications allow people to create customized, visual interpretations of influenza data, as well as make comparisons across flu seasons, regions, age groups and a variety of other demographics.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Monthly surveillance data on the prevalence of health-related workplace absenteeism among full-time workers in the United States are available from NIOSH.
U.S. State and local influenza surveillance: Select a jurisdiction below to access the latest local influenza information.
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How Is Flu Data Different From Covid
The flu and COVID-19 are different, though they do have similar symptoms that can make it hard to tell them apart. One of the key ways that we can keep track of all the data is by testing people who have symptoms to find out if they have the flu, COVID, or another kind of respiratory illness.
Clinical labs and public health departments both test specimens to look for signs of the flu, but each has a different goal.
Clinical labs are more geared toward providing a flu diagnosis while public health labs are looking at the larger trends in flu illnessfor example, which subtypes of the flu are circulating and how quickly cases of the flu are growing in different places and among different groups of people.
Public health departments often test samples that were already tested in clinical labs to look for a diagnosis, which is why the CDC tracks specimens tested by each type of lab separately to make sure that the numbers are not duplicated .
Some specimens tested for the flu might also be tested for COVID at the same time, or, if the flu test is negative, a person might need a COVID test next. This will probably be more common in the winter months when both types of viruses end up circulating at the same time.
Eventually, we may reach a point where we have a recurring “COVID season” like the annual flu season. For now, public health authorities are trying to follow both illnesses as they move through communities and report the data separately.
Flu Surveillance Data Updates
Were there any updates in the methods for flu surveillance for 2020-2021?
For the 2020-2021 flu season, there were some changes to FluView surveillance methodology.
In addition to state-level data, the influenza-like-illness activity map displayed ILI activity by Core-based Statistical Areas , a U.S. geographic area defined by the Office of Management and Budget that consists of one or more counties anchored by an urban center of at least 10,000 people plus adjacent counties that are socioeconomically tied to the urban center by commuting.
Also, during most flu seasons, state and territorial health departments report the level of geographic spread of flu activity in their jurisdictions each week through the State and Territorial Epidemiologists Report. However, because COVID-19 and influenza have similar symptoms and it is difficult to differentiate the two without laboratory testing, reporting for this system was suspended for the 2020-21 influenza season.
More information on flu surveillance methodology and these updates is available online.
Why was pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19 mortality data added to FluView Interactive?
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Outpatient Respiratory Illness Visits
Nationwide, during week 49, 2.7% of patient visits reported through ILINet were due to respiratory illness that included fever plus a cough or sore throat, also referred to as ILI. This percentage is above the national baseline. Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 are above their region-specific baselines all other regions are below their baselines. Multiple respiratory viruses are co-circulating, and the relative contribution of influenza virus infection to ILI can vary by location.
* Effective October 3, 2021 , the ILI definition no longer includes without a known cause other than influenza.
Thursday 1 April 2021
The main points from this weeks national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report are:
Surveillance indicators suggest that at a national level COVID-19 activity remained stable across week 12 of 2021.
Overall case rates decreased slightly, however slight increases were seen in case rates in the 10 to 19 year age group in the past 3 weeks, mostly among children of younger secondary age. This is likely to reflect the impact of schools reopening which occurred in week 10 and the mass testing programme in secondary schools.
Case rates are highest in those aged 10 to 19, with a case rate of 109.8 per 100,000 population.
The lowest case rates continue to be in those aged 70 to 79, with a rate of 10.7 per 100,000 population.
Case rates per 100,000 have fallen across all regions and remain highest in Yorkshire and the Humber, at 109.1.
Case rates per 100,000 are lowest in the South West, with a rate of 28.4.
The number of acute respiratory infection incidents in England was 294 in week 12, compared to 233 in the previous week.
The hospital admission rate for COVID-19 has fallen and was 2.70 per 100,000 in week 12, compared to 3.58 per 100,000 in the previous week.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 have fallen across all regions.
Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 are now highest in the West Midlands, with a rate of 4.04.
The highest hospital admission rates continue to be those aged 85 and above.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England said:
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Testing And Treatment Of Respiratory Illness When Sars
While waiting on results of testing, sick non-hospitalized persons with respiratory symptoms should self-isolate at home. Even if people test negative for both viruses, they should self-isolate because of the potential for false negative testing results depending upon what kind of test was done and the level of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza transmission in the community. Persons not hospitalized but who are at high-risk for complications from influenza should get antiviral treatment for influenza as soon as possible.
For hospitalized patients, empiric oseltamivir treatment for suspected influenza should be started as soon as possible regardless of illness duration, without waiting for influenza testing results. Get more information on testing and treatment when SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses are co-circulating.
CDC has developed clinical algorithms that can help guide decisions for influenza testing and treatment when SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses are co-circulating.
Influenza antiviral medications have no activity against SARS-CoV-2 viruses, nor do they interact with medications used for treatment of COVID-19 patients. If a patient who is at high risk for serious influenza complications is diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus co-infection, they should receive influenza antiviral treatment.
Outpatient Respiratory Illness Visits By Age Group
More than 70% of ILINet participants provide both the number of patient visits for respiratory illness and the total number of patient visits for the week broken out by age group. Data from this subset of providers are used to calculate the percentages of patient visits for respiratory illness by age group.
The percentage of visits for respiratory illness reported in ILINet are trending upward for all age groups .
* Effective October 3, 2021 , the ILI definition no longer includes without a known cause other than influenza.
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Outpatient Respiratory Illness Surveillance
The U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network monitors outpatient visits for influenza-like illness , not laboratory-confirmed influenza, and will therefore capture respiratory illness visits due to infection with any pathogen that can present with similar symptoms such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and RSV. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care-seeking behaviors have changed, and people may be accessing the health care system in alternative settings not captured as a part of ILINet or at a different point in their illness than they might have before the pandemic. Therefore, it is important to evaluate syndromic surveillance data, including that from ILINet, in the context of other sources of surveillance data to obtain a complete and accurate picture of influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other respiratory virus activity. CDC is tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in a weekly publication called COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review. Information about other respiratory virus activity can be found on CDCs National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System website.