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Weekly Report: Influenza Summary Update
Week ending February 18, 2006-Week 7
Error processing SSI fileSynopsis:
During week 7 (February 12 ?February 18, 2006)*, influenza activity increased in the United States. Four hundred thirty-seven specimens (15.3%) tested by U.S. World Health Organization (WHO) and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) collaborating laboratories were positive for influenza. The proportion of patient visits to sentinel providers for influenza-like illness (ILI) was above the national baseline. The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza was below the baseline level. Seventeen states and New York City reported widespread influenza activity; 18 states reported regional influenza activity; 10 states reported local influenza activity; 4 states and Puerto Rico reported sporadic influenza activity; and the District of Columbia reported no activity.
Laboratory Surveillance*:
During week 7, WHO and NREVSS laboratories reported 2,864 specimens tested for influenza viruses and 437 (15.3%) were positive. Of these, 116 were influenza A (H3N2) viruses, 6 were influenza A (H1N1) viruses, 288 were influenza A viruses that were not subtyped, and 27 were influenza B viruses.
Since October 2, 2005, WHO and NREVSS laboratories have tested a total of 73,094 specimens for influenza viruses and 6,174 (8.4%) were positive. Among the 6,174 influenza viruses, 5,905 (95.6%) were influenza A viruses and 269 (4.4%) were influenza B viruses. Two thousand six hundred seventy-four (45.3%) of the 5,905 influenza A viruses have been subtyped: 2,640 (98.7%) were influenza A (H3N2) viruses and 34 (1.3%) were influenza A (H1N1) viruses. All states have reported laboratory-confirmed influenza this season. During the past 3 weeks (weeks 5 ?7), the percentage of specimens testing positive for influenza has ranged from 31.2% in the East North Central region to 10.5% in the Pacific region.
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Composition of the 2006-07 Influenza Vaccine:
WHO has recommended that the 2006-07 trivalent influenza vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere contain A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1), A/Wisconsin/67/2005-like (H3N2), and B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like viruses. The influenza A (H3N2) and the influenza B components have been changed from the 2005-06 season vaccine components. A/Wisconsin/67/2005 is an antigenic variant of the current vaccine strain A/California/07/2004. Influenza B viruses currently circulating can be divided into two antigenically distinct lineages represented by B/Yamagata/16/88 and B/Victoria/2/87 viruses. The updating of the influenza B component to B/Ohio/1/2005 (which is antigenically equivalent to B/Malaysia/2506/2004) represents a change to the B/Victoria lineage. This recommendation was based on antigenic analyses of recently isolated influenza viruses, epidemiologic data, and post-vaccination serologic studies in humans.
Antigenic Characterization:
CDC has antigenically characterized 253 influenza viruses [208 influenza
A (H3N2), 14 influenza A (H1), and 31 influenza B viruses] collected by
U.S. laboratories since October 1, 2005. Of the 208 influenza A (H3N2) viruses,
168 were characterized as A/California/07/2004-like, which is the influenza
A (H3N2) component recommended for the 2005-06 influenza vaccine, and 40
viruses showed reduced titers with antisera produced against A/California/07/2004.
Of the 40 low-reacting viruses, 14 were tested with antisera produced against
A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (the H3N2 component selected for the 2006-07 vaccine),
and 10 are A/Wisconsin-like. The hemagglutinin proteins of 12 influenza
A (H1) viruses were similar antigenically to the hemagglutinin of the vaccine
strain A/New Caledonia/20/99, and 2 showed reduced titers with antisera
produced against A/New Caledonia/20/99. Nineteen of the influenza B viruses
that have been characterized belong to the B/Yamagata lineage. Two were
similar to B/Shanghai/361/2002, the recommended influenza B component for
the 2005-06 influenza vaccine, and 17 were characterized as B/Florida/07/2004-like.
B/Florida/07/2004 is a minor antigenic variant of B/Shanghai/361/2002. Twelve
influenza B viruses were identified as belonging to the B/Victoria lineage
and all were similar to B/Ohio/1/2005, the influenza B component selected
for the 2006-07 vaccine.
Pneumonia and Influenza (P&I) Mortality Surveillance*:
During week 7, 7.3% of all deaths reported by the vital statistics offices
of 122 U.S. cities were due to pneumonia or influenza. This percentage is
below the epidemic threshold of 8.3% for week 7.
Influenza-Associated Pediatric Mortality*:
No influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported during week 7. Since October 2, 2005, CDC has received reports of 14 influenza-associated pediatric deaths, 12 of which occurred during the current influenza season.
Influenza-Associated Pediatric Hospitalizations*:
Laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated pediatric hospitalizations are monitored in two population-based surveillance networks?/sup>: the Emerging Infections Program (EIP) and the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN). During October 1, 2005 ?February 4, 2006, the preliminary influenza-associated hospitalization rate reported by the EIP for children aged 0-17 years was 0.30 per 10,000. For children aged 0-4 years and 5-17 years, the rate was 0.78 per 10,000 and 0.04 per 10,000, respectively. During October 30, 2005 ?February 4, 2006, the preliminary laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalization rate for children aged 0-4 years in the NVSN was 0.33 per 10,000. EIP and NVSN hospitalization rate estimates are preliminary and may change as data continue to be collected.
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Influenza-like Illness Surveillance*:
During week 7, 2.8%*** of patient visits to U.S. sentinel providers were due to ILI. This percentage is above the national baseline of 2.2%. The percentage of visits for ILI ranged from 1.5% in the Pacific region to 4.3% in the West South Central region**. Due to wide variability in regional level data, it is not appropriate to apply the national baseline to regional level data.
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Influenza Activity as Assessed by State and Territorial Epidemiologists*:
During week 7, 17 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming) and New York City reported widespread influenza activity. Eighteen states (Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) reported regional influenza activity. Ten states (Arizona, California, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, and Vermont) reported local influenza activity. Four states (Hawaii, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia) and Puerto Rico reported sporadic influenza activity. The District of Columbia reported no activity. One state did not report.
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Report prepared February 24, 2006
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