Influenza Surveillance Update – Noreen Ajayi (CDC)
Noreen provided an update on influenza activity for Week 5, ending February 1, 2020. Influenza activity remains high and has been increasing over the last 2 weeks. In general, however, there is not much change from the previous week’s summary.
Clinical labs reported 29.8% of submitted specimens were positive for influenza, an increase from the previous week. Approximately equal numbers of specimens have been submitted that test positive for B Victoria and A(H1N1) viruses, although A(H1N1) has been increasing in recent weeks. Outpatient influenza-like illness (ILI) activity for the week was reported as 6.7%, an increase over the previous week.
Ten (10) influenza-related pediatric deaths were reported during the week, bringing the 2019–2020 total for pediatric deaths to 78.
Pneumonia and influenza (P&I) mortality was reported to be 7.1% of deaths, below the epidemic threshold of 7.2%.
Announcements – L.J Tan (IAC)
- 2020 Summit Meeting – This year’s meeting will be held on May 18, the day prior to the opening of the National Immunization Conference (NIC). Information on registration and other pertinent details is available on the Summit website. The deadline to submit nominations for the Immunization Excellence Awards has now closed. Poster submissions will be accepted through March 15. It is acceptable to submit posters that also will be presented at NIC.
- Summit Call Schedule – Summit calls are held each Thursday at 3 pm ET unless otherwise cancelled via an email announcement.
