Four weeks into the 2015-2016 flu season, activity levels of influenza-like illness (ILI) are minimal in all 50 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Nov. 13.
Seven states – Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Utah, and Virginia – had level 2 activity for the week ending Nov. 7, 2015, which, although still minimal, was higher than the level 1 activity in the other 43 states. There was a moderate level of influenza-like illness activity (level 7) in Puerto Rico, which was up from level 6 the week before, and there were insufficient data to determine flu activity in the District of Columbia, according to the CDC.
ILI is defined as fever (temperature of 100° F or greater) and cough and/or sore throat. Activity level within a state is the proportion of outpatient visits to health care providers for influenza-like illness.
For the country overall, the proportion of outpatient visits for ILI was 1.4%, which is below the national baseline of 2.1% for week 4 of the flu season, the CDC noted.