Influenza activity, increasing rapidly in Connecticut and throughout the region, is now classified as widespread geographically by the state Department of Public Health.

Type A is the predominant circulating influenza virus and influenza A (H3N2) the predominant subtype, according to state officials.

Here are details of the DPH report for the week ending Jan. 7:

  • Activity level:  Widespread. (See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines below.)
  • Total influenza reports during current season (since Aug. 28): 614.
  • Influenza reports by county: Fairfield (234), Hartford (163), New Haven (134), Windham (29), New London (19), Litchfield (14), Middlesex (13) and Tolland (8).
  • Influenza reports by type (from Aug. 28, 2016, to Jan. 7, 2017): 476 Type A (subtype unspecified), 79 Type A (H3N2), 15 Type A (2009 H1N1), 44 influenza B virus.
  • Percentage of unscheduled hospital admissions due to pneumonia: Now above 5 percent (4 percent is considered the baseline when there may be increased pneumonia hospitalizations
    due to influenza).
  • Statewide emergency department visits attributed to the “fever/flu syndrome”:  A recent drop to 6.7 percent, from the previous report’s 7.4 percent, but still well above the 5 percent level considered the minimum threshold when there are elevated influenza-associated ED visits.
  • Percentage of outpatient visits with influenza-like illness: Now above 2 percent (1 percent is considered the baseline when there are increased influenza associated
    visits in the outpatient setting).

Brace yourself for some potential seasonal (stomach) distress, norovirus.

Levels Of Geographic Spread: CDC Guidelines

No Activity: No laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza and no reported increase in the number of cases of influenza-like illness (ILI).
Sporadic: Small numbers of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases or a single laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreak has been reported, but there is no increase in cases of ILI.
Local: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illness cases and recent laboratory-confirmed influenza in a single region of the state.
Regional: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illness and recent laboratory confirmed influenza in at least two but less than half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza in those regions.
Widespread: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illness cases and recent laboratory-confirmed influenza in at least half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza in the state.

The best way to avoid  the flu is getting a vaccine.