Influenza isolates reported to CDC this season have increased
from
a cumulative total of 276 last month (1) to 707 (Figure 1). Most
virus isolates (93%) have been identified as type A(H3N2) related
to
the A/Bangkok/79 component of the current vaccine, and 5% have been
identified as type A(H1N1) related to the A/Brazil/78 component.
Influenza virus isolates have now been reported from 41 states.
Forty states have reported influenza type A(H3N2) virus, and 15,
including Kentucky, which recently reported its first influenza
isolate for this season, have reported type A(H1N1) virus. Six
states
have reported influenza type B virus (10 isolates).
For the week ending March 4, five states (Iowa, Kentucky,
Nebraska, Ohio, and Virginia) reported widespread influenza
activity,
and 11 states reported regional influenza activity. For the same
week, an excess in the ratio of pneumonia and influenza (P&I)
deaths
to total deaths was reported from 121 cities for the 8th
consecutive
week (Figure 1). The ratio was 5.1, and the expected ratio was
4.2.
During the last season the P&I ratio was significantly
elevated--1980/81--the observed ratio rose more abruptly and peaked
near 7.0.
Reported by Respective state epidemiologists and laboratory
directors;
Div of Surveillance and Epidemiologic Studies, Epidemiology Program
Office, WHO Collaborating Center for Influenza, Influenza Br, Div
of
Viral Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
References
CDC. Update: influenza activity--United States. MMWR
1983;32:75-6.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML documents published before January 1993 are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
