Flu Activity Widespread in a Dozen States
Four states experienced high flu activity (Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas), while five states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, and Kentucky) experienced moderate activity in the week that ended Dec. 9.
CDC's most recent FluView report says seasonal influenza activity continues to increase in the United States, and 12 states reported widespread flu activity during the first week of December. The proportion of people seeing their health care provider for influenza-like-illness increased sharply from the previous week and has been at or above the national baseline for three weeks so far this season, it says.
The 12 states with widespread activity are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Four states experienced high flu activity (Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas), while five states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, and Kentucky) experienced moderate activity. New York City, Puerto Rico, and 16 states (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming) experienced low activity. Another 25 states experienced minimal activity.
Influenza A(H3N2) viruses were most commonly reported during the week ending Dec. 9, 2017, and this has been the predominant virus so far this season. According to the report, several flu activity indicators are higher than is typically seen for this time of year.