03/15/2018
Weekly Flu Update - March 15, 2018
The state Department of Public Health (DPH) today released the weekly 2017-2018 Influenza Season Update for the week ending on March 10th. The full report is available on DPH’s Influenza Surveillance and Statistics webpage.
“Connecticut has passed the peak of the flu season and our numbers are trending in the right direction. We still have a few more weeks of flu activity to get through, and people should continue to take precautions to avoid contracting or spreading the flu, but the worst of the season appears to be behind us,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Pino.
According to this week’s update, which tracks flu activity through March 10th, flu activity is past the peak in Connecticut but remains widespread. Statewide emergency department visits attributed to the flu have decreased for the last five weeks, but at 7.3%, remain well above the baseline level of 5% statewide. The percentage of hospital admissions due to pneumonia attributed to influenza has decreased to 3.4%, which is below the baseline average of 4%.
A total of 2,418 patients have been hospitalized with confirmed cases of flu between August 27, 2017 and March 10, 2018. A total of 8,117 influenza positive laboratory tests have been reported during this season.
So far this season, 119 deaths (7 since last week’s report) have been attributed to the flu (88 associated with influenza A, 30 with influenza B, 1 of unknown type). Of these deaths, 98 were among patients over the age of 65, 12 were 50-64 years of age, 5 were 25-49 years of age, 1 was between 19-24 years of age, and 3 were aged <>18 years.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This will be the last press release issued by DPH on the current flu season. Weekly influenza updates will continue to be posted on the DPH website here and will be accessible to the media on Thursday afternoons for the duration of the 2017-2018 flu season.