US flu activity, H3N2 mismatch both increase
Though still below epidemic thresholds, US influenza activity has begun to pick up, and the vaccine mismatch with circulating H3N2 strains has reached two-thirds, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update.
In addition, two more children died from flu.
Of 16,093 specimens tested by US labs, 3,415 (21.2%) were positive for influenza for the week that ended Dec 6, up from 17.0% the week before. And 6.0% of all deaths were attributed to pneumonia and influenza, which is up from 5.4% the week and inching closer to the epidemic threshold of 6.6%.
Eight of the 10 US regions experienced elevated activity of influenza-like illness (ILI) in outpatients, the same as the previous week. The Midwest and South had the highest flu activity. The CDC's region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin reported 27.5% of samples positive for influenza, and the region that includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas reported 26.0%.
Puerto Rico and six mostly southern states reported high ILI activity, the same as the week before. More dramatically, 14 states reported widespread flu activity, up from 6 states.
Among the 3,415 influenza-positive specimens, 3,252 (95.2%) were influenza A and 163 (4.8%) were influenza B. Of the 1,261 "A" viruses that were subtyped, 1,254 (99.4%) were H3N2 and only 7 (0.6%) were 2009 H1N1.
A total of 133 of 197 H3N2 viruses tested, or 67.5%, did not match well with the H3N2 component in the vaccine. That is up from 58% the week before.
The CDC reported two new pediatric deaths from flu, both in the week that ended Nov 29. One was caused by H3N2 and the other by an influenza A virus that was not subtyped.
Dec 12 CDC FluView update
Dec 5 CIDRAP News story on strain mismatch and vaccine issues
Study: Unvaccinated kids have much higher flu risk than adults
Children who have not been vaccinated for influenza have much higher flu attack rates than unvaccinated adults, according to a study yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases.
Researchers analyzed a systematic review of 34 randomized controlled trials. The trials evaluated a total of 94,821 participants during 47 flu seasons from 1970 to 2009.
Unvaccinated adults experienced a flu attack rate of 3.5%, while the attack rate in children was more than quadruple that, at 15.2%. Overall attack rates tended to be higher when flu was diagnosed with hemagglutination inhibition assay (HIA) either alone or in combination with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) than they were when diagnosed with PCR alone.
The influenza type B attack rate in unvaccinated children was more than nine times the adult rate (5.5% in children and 0.6% in adults). Influenza type A, however, caused more disease, with an attack rate of 12.3% in unvaccinated children and 2.3% in unvaccinated adults.
The study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline and included GSK researchers.
Dec 8 BMC Infect Dis study
Egypt reports 2 new H5N1 cases, 1 fatal
Egyptian officials have confirmed H5N1 avian flu in a 33-year-old woman and 16-month-old girl in Sohag governorate, with the former case proving fatal, Reuters reported today.
The woman died after being admitted to a hospital, Egypt's health ministry said, and the child has been hospitalized since Dec 7. The woman's death is the eighth H5N1-related fatality in the country this year. Reuters said the 2 infections bring the country's 2014 H5N1 case total to 16, but other media reports say 15.
Sohag governorate is in central Egypt along the Nile River.
Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed 668 global cases in 16 countries as of Oct 2, including 393 deaths.
Dec 12 Reuters story