A periodic update on the flu season in Connecticut, with information supplied by the state Department of Public Health.
Here’s a report for the week ending Dec. 3, the latest information available from state officials:
- Activity level: Local (see Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines below.)
- Total influenza reports during current season (since Aug. 28): 108
- Influenza reports by county: New Haven (37), Fairfield (31), Hartford (23), Litchfield (7), New London (6), Middlesex (2) and Tolland County (2).
- Influenza reports by type: 83 Type A (subtype unspecified), 14 Type A (H3N2), 11 influenza B
virus. - Percentage of unscheduled hospital admissions due to pneumonia: Approaching 4 percent, considered the baseline when there may be increased pneumonia hospitalizations
due to influenza. - Statewide emergency department visits attributed to the “fever/flu syndrome”: Just below the 5 percent level considered the minimum threshold when there are
elevated influenza-associated ED visits. - Percentage of outpatient visits with influenza-like illness: Above the 1 percent level generally considered the baseline when there are increased influenza associated
visits in the outpatient setting
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 getting the flu is getting a vaccine.