Arizona has already had eight people pass away due to the flu this year. Compared to the previous year, Arizona got hit a lot worse than usual. In 2018-2019, the state had a few fewer than 6,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu. Well, this year, there are already 10,522 cases, and the season isn’t even close to over. Medical professionals stated that the flu season often peaks around February.
Arkansas has had a pretty big jump in deaths week over week, as well as sick patients. Last week, there were only 15 deaths, but this week’s report shows a total of 23. That doesn’t even include mortalities due to pneumonia, which is currently 73. Lab tests have already confirmed 7,200 cases, but there are likely tens of thousands more.
California is a pretty big state, but many of the people are packed in just a few areas. So far, there’s been 70 people who have passed away due to the flu alone. Officials claim that there are more cases than expected each week, and they’re on track for one of their worst years. Labs have tested tens of thousands of specimens, and 46,897 have come back positive.
Colorado has had at least one death due to the flu – the state isn’t widely distributing how many total individuals have passed away due to the illness. We can tell you that last week, there were 765 people hospitalized, and this week, that number has jumped up to 909. Things aren’t looking good for Colorado.
Connecticut is small, but there have been quite a few reports of illness. Each week, there are more reports of hospitalizations and deaths. Last week alone, there were seven deaths, but this week, there are 13. In addition to this, 643 people have been admitted to the hospital due to the illness. Emergency departments are reporting that over 10% of patients that visit the facility are for flu-like symptoms.
Since the beginning of the flu season, Georgia has seen 22 people pass away due to influenza, five of those being from last week alone. The metro area has also seen a whopping 779 hospitalizations. Things are hitting the state pretty hard. The proportion of outpatient visits for flu-like illnesses is 9.5% –one of the higher percentages out there.
Flu activity in Illinois has been on the decline since mid-December. While the state wasn’t hit as hard as others on the list, the CDC still ranks it as one of the high-activity level states. Illinois hasn’t reported the total number of those who have passed away, but there’s been at least one pediatric death. Over the whole season, there have been 263 admissions to the ICU due to the flu, most being 65 and older.
Things may not look too rough in Iowa until you take a look at the number of people who have passed away due to the flu. There’s been a total of 12 deaths, with 268 hospitalizations. Like many of the states, the flu hit those ages 65+ the hardest, but the next age group (50-64) is close behind. There have also been quite a few young adults hospitalized due to the virus.
Kansas has a pretty high number of patients visiting the doctor due to flu-like symptoms – 6.2%. This doesn’t account for the 7.8% of patients that are visiting the ER due to signs of influenza. Deaths in the state have also skyrocketed since the previous week. It was five last week, but now it’s 15, including one pediatric mortality.
Kentucky has had over 8,000 confirmed cases of the flu. The number of deaths in Kentucky is also increasing quickly week over week. Currently, the mortality count sits at 13, not including one pediatric death. Children age 1-10 seem to be hit the hardest in this state, so officials are encouraging parents to teach their children proper techniques to avoid getting sick.
Like many of the other southern states, Louisiana has had a hard time dealing with the flu this season. There have been over 52,000 flu cases in the state. Thankfully the influenza-like percentage of outpatient visits did decrease from 7% to 5.38% this week. Sadly, there’s been five pediatric deaths in the state and a total of 32 mortalities. This year is much worse than last.
Maine is holding steady week over week, but the CDC still lists it as a high-activity area. There have been eight deaths so far, but thankfully, that number hasn’t increased week over week. The number of hospitalizations, however, has increased by 29, which means a total of 133 people have been admitted because of flu-like illnesses. York and Cumberland counties have been hit the hardest.
Maryland is one of the few states that hasn’t seen a decrease in flu activity since last week. However, things haven’t gotten a lot worse, so that’s a plus. Over 20,000 people have visited their doctors due to flu symptoms, not including 32,419 ER visits. In addition to this, there’s been 305 hospitalizations and four deaths.
Massachusetts is better off than many this season, but it’s still worse than the previous year. This year, there’s been at least 1,300 confirmed cases of the flu, while last year only saw 850. Keep in mind that these are simply laboratory-confirmed tests and not total cases in the state. There haven’t been any deaths in Massachusetts.
Mississippi is one of the few southern states that’s been successfully holding out against the flu. There haven’t been any pediatric deaths, but influenza is still running rampant, so it’s important to take precautions. Around 8% of outpatient visits to doctors were due to flu-like symptoms. The hardest-hit counties are Alcorn, Amite, Pontotoc, Scott, and Tunica.
New York has had a 9% increase in laboratory-confirmed flu reports since last week. All in all, there’s been nearly 33,000 cases of the flu in New York alone. Hospitalizations are also increasing rapidly week over week – a 34% increase to 1,964 total. So far, there’s been one pediatric death, an 11-year-old. New York hasn’t reported how many total adult deaths there have been due to the flu.
North Carolina has been hit pretty hard. Last week, there were over 103,000 patients that went to the doctor for flu-like symptoms. While this sounds bad, the percentage of flu-like cases is actually slightly decreasing. Unfortunately, North Carolina has lost several people to the flu already – 21. Nine of those were from the week of December 29th to January 4th.
North Dakota doesn’t have a huge population, so influenza hasn’t hit the state quite as hard as more populated areas. This season, there’s been 3,255 cases, which is much more than the previous year when there were just 1,036. The number of people that have died in North Dakota due to the flu is two, but those who passed away due to pneumonia totals a whopping 194.
Oklahoma is another state that’s been struggling with the sick season. Since September 2019, a total of 20 people have died due to the flu. In addition to that, 863 people have been hospitalized since the start of the flu season. Last year, 90 Oklahomans died from the flu and more than 3,000 were hospitalized. It’s good to see the numbers down, but some experts claim this year’s strain hasn’t even hit its peak.
Oregon’s flu season is already on track to match last year, but that isn’t good news since we’re only partially into the season. In Oregon, around 5% of visits to the ER are due to flu symptoms. Visits to the ER are down week-over-week, but hospitalizations are steadily increasing. During the week of December 29th to January 4th, there were 84 hospitalizations while the previous number was 44. There’s been at least one child death in Oregon due to the flu.
There’s been a total of 32,322 cases of the flu in Pennsylvania. Thankfully, the number of new flu cases have dropped dramatically since last week. Since the start of the season, there have been 24 deaths. While most of those that passed away were 65+, two were between the ages 19 and 49. The rest were 50 to 64.
Influenza activity across South Carolina has been decreasing, but it’s still bad enough for the Department of Health to issue warnings. South Carolina has one of the higher influenza-like-illness patient visits than any other state at 7.4%. This could be because there’s been over 1,000 hospitalizations and 34 deaths this season alone.
Being in the south, Tennessee never really stood a chance this season. Since the beginning of this flu season, 32 people have died, most had the worst strain of the year, influenza B. The most shocking statistic is the fact that there have been 4,228 laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalizations since the start of the flu season.
Since the start of the season, there have been eight deaths and nearly 21,000 confirmed cases of the flu. Keep in mind that this number doesn’t accurately reflect the number of those sick in Texas, merely confirmed cases. Still, it’s weakening as the season goes on. Last week, there were over 4,500 positive flu tests while this week is a mere 1,700. Keep in mind that it’s still very important to take precautions as the flu could suddenly get worse.
While Virginia hasn’t had a pediatric death, the state has had a shocking 442 deaths from pneumonia and the flu combined. The majority of that was early in the season, and things are beginning slowed down a little. There’s also been a total of 3,125 infections in Virginia during this season alone, with influence B being the strongest strain going around.
Washington has already had three pediatric deaths, one being less than five. There have also been 27 adult deaths, mostly those who are 50 and older. This is much higher than this time last year. Snohomish County has been hit the hardest, which scares residents as they just recently had a rise in Hepatitis A cases.
Officials in West Virginia are once again requesting people get a flu shot after a surge of outbreaks in the state. More than 500 positive cases of the flu were reported last week alone. Medical professionals expect this number only to increase every week until March. So far, however, the state hasn’t had any deaths related to the flu.
Wisconsin has had a total of 15 deaths due to the flu, including one child who passed away last week. The scariest statistic is deaths from pneumonia, which has risen to 1,011 for the whole state. This is particularly upsetting to Wisconsin as officials had a goal to get more people vaccinated, but only 38% got a flu shot. Last influenza season, 40% got a shot. Hospitalizations have also spiked upward to 459.
