Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

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Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/gcdc/flu0910.html

Am I reading this incorrectly, but is this right there have been 376 hospitalisations from 21/3-27/3/10 for Influenza-like Illnesses???

One new death reported in this week, total 99.

North Carolina Influenza Update
2009-2010 Flu Season

Table 1. NC Flu-Associated Hospitalizations and Deaths
March 30, 2010 – 1:30 p.m.

Hospitalizations for ILI (Influenza-Like Illness) 3/21/10-3/27/10 New Flu Deaths 3/21/10-3/27/10 Total Flu Deaths
Since April 2009*
376 1 99



*Includes H1N1 flu deaths April - Sept. 26, 2009 (13) and all flu deaths since Sept. 27, 2009
Starting Sept. 27, 2009 North Carolina expanded reporting of flu deaths and hospitalizations to cover all hospitalizations for influenza-like illness (ILI) and all deaths related to influenza, whether seasonal flu or pandemic H1N1 flu. As of Sept. 26, 2009, a total of 13 deaths and 267 hospitalizations attributed to laboratory-confirmed pandemic H1N1 flu had been reported in North Carolina.

Influenza-associated deaths are based on reports from doctors and local health departments of people who died from an illness identified as influenza (either seasonal or pandemic) through medical testing. In previous years, only pediatric flu deaths were reported. Reporting of all flu-related deaths, including those in adults, is now required.

Hospitalizations for influenza-like-illness (ILI) are based on electronic monitoring of the number of patients with ILI who are admitted to hospitals through emergency departments. ILI is not the same as laboratory confirmed influenza. Patients who are identified as having ILI might have other diseases, so this number may overestimate the actual number of influenza hospitalizations, but is useful for monitoring trends.

To view numbers of Influenza-Like Illness Hospitalizations from previous weeks, please see the Weekly Influenza Surveillance Summary.

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Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/gcdc/flu2009.html

Seems quite high, if we are using Georgia's 80 and 72 hospitalizations for two weeks in March as a reference and North Carolina has 376 in the most recent week.


http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/gcdc/flu2009.html

Look at this report for North Carolina back in September 2009. On that report, they showed 1215, then 1151, then 1401, and 1319 hospitalizations for the 4 weeks in September. In 2010, the most recent weeks were 435, then 432 then 229 then 153 then 226 then the newest number is 376.

Positive flu case percent on that report was 80% and down to about 12% positive in the most recent report.

I think the difference may be that Georgia is reporting lab-confirmed and North Carolina has a broader definition. ---- ignore that ----

North Carolina's is based on a number of sentinel sites. What are Georgia's 80 in one week based upon?

Georgia's NOTE: These cases are CONFIRMED AT GEORGIA PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORY, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED.
http://dch.georgia.gov/00/channel_title ... alizations

INFLUENZA-LIKE ILLNESSES REPORTED BY SENTINEL SITES, 08-09/09-10
Week # - Ending (Sentinels Reporting) # ILI # Patients % ILI
#36 - 09/12/09 [2008-2009] (56) 1,151 19,113 6.02%
#37 - 09/19/09 (58) 1,401 24,668 5.68%
#38 - 09/26/09 (57) 1,319 23,563 5.60%
#39 - 10/03/09 (44) 1,156 19,733 5.86%
#40 - 10/10/09 [2009-2010] (79) 1,465 28,334 5.17%
#41 - 10/17/09 (80) 1,441 26,961 5.34%
#42 - 10/24/09 (82) 1,477 28,270 5.22%
#43 - 10/31/09 (81) 1,313 27,605 4.75%
#44 - 11/07/09 (81) 994 29,597 3.35%
#45 - 11/14/09 (86) 855 28,526 2.99%
#46 - 11/21/09 (88) 809 32,462 2.49%
#47 - 11/28/09 (89) 376 21,220 1.77%
#48 - 12/05/09 (86) 476 32,916 1.44%
#49 - 12/12/09 (83) 415 30,660 1.35%
#50 - 12/19/09 (81) 250 26,476 0.94%
#51 - 12/26/09 (74) 162 13,316 1.21%
#52 - 01/02/10 (72) 169 15,881 1.06%
#01 - 01/09/10 (76) 179 22,300 0.80%
#02 - 01/16/10 (77) 206 27,409 0.75%
#03 - 01/23/10 (77) 269 25,251 1.06%
#04 - 01/30/10 (80) 302 27,195 1.11%
#05 - 02/06/10 (82) 288 23,124 1.24%
#06 - 02/13/10 (80) 333 26,093 1.27%
#07 - 02/20/10 (79) 435 27,421 1.58%
#08 - 02/27/10 (79) 432 29,768 1.45%
#09 - 03/06/10 (75) 229 24,704 0.92%
#10 - 03/13/10 (71) 153 20,879 0.73%
#11 - 03/20/10 (60) 226 20,369 1.10%

_________________
Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

Yep, I see what you mean Tex.

_________________
Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

Still, 376 is a bit of an uptick instead of continuing down.


North Carolina's population is 9,380,884 compared to Georgia's 9,829,211, so they are in range of one another, and Georgia is the larger of the two.

Ok, I'll ignore that bit, lol. I'm not great at reading charts etc but the 'black line' on Fig.2 is over 30%, of what, pandemic flu?

_________________
Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

I only went to the N.C flu update due to an article I had posted previously but almost fell off my chair when I saw that figure.

_________________
Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

~ 30% of the specimens that they tested in the current week were positive for h1n1, but they only tested a small number of specimens (left edge of graph is label for number of specimens that are shown as bars. right edge of graph is labeled for percentage of specimens tested, and corresponds to the black line graph)

Raleigh, NC -- The Centers for Disease Control has renewed it's focus on H1N1 in the southeast after Georgia public health officials reported a dramatic increase in hospitalizations related to flu complications.

North Carolina has not seen such an increase, but state health officials say the virus is still circulating and considered a threat.

"Of the 98 deaths reported from H1N1 since April 2009, 85 percent have been in people under the age of 65," said Megan Davies, State Epidemiologist.

Federal officials say as the end of traditional flu season nears, there is less concern of widespread outbreak, rather the threat to high-risk individuals. That includes those people with chronic illnesses such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease and diabetes.

None of the people in our state who have died from H1N1 had been vaccinated against it," said Davies.

She said the state has plenty of vaccine still available and they encourage anyone who is in the "high-risk" category to get vaccinated.

The flu vaccine is available free of charge at any county health department. For more information on H1N1 vaccine availability visit www.flu.nc.gov.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/arti ... 0&catid=57

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