Weekly U.S. influenza surveillance report: No signs of easing

CDC reported on Friday that cases of influenza-like illness continued to rise in the week ending January 27, marking approximately 2 months of steady increases and the worst epidemic in years. The hospitalization rate for influenza that week was 51.4 people per 100,000, the highest it has been since 2010, when CDC adopted a new system to track hospitalizations. Outpatient visits for influenza symptoms rose to 7.1% from 6.6% in the previous week. During the 2009-10 influenza pandemic, when a new virus led to more than 60 million cases of influenza in the United States, outpatient visits peaked at 7.7%. Of the total deaths nationwide during the week ended January 13, 9.7% were due to influenza and pneumonia. It was 9.1% the prior week. The agency reported an additional 16 deaths among children in the week ending Jan. 27, bringing the total to 53 this season. Influenza remains widespread in 48 states — every state across the continental United States except for Oregon, where cases are easing up, CDC said. Influenza transmission on the West Coast is slowing down for the second week in a row.