Welcome to the Northeastern edition of Outbreak Outlook! It is only available to paid subscribers. If you wish to become a paid subscriber and access region-specific information, please click the Subscribe now button below. Thanks for reading! -Caitlin

BY DR. CAITLIN RIVERS (Reprinted with permission)

Respiratory Diseases

ILI

There was little improvement across the Northeast this past week, with most states reporting stable rates of outpatient visits for ILI and hospitalization for flu. The percentage of visits to the doctor that were fever and cough or sore throat fell slightly from 4.4% to 4.2%, which is an improvement but only a small one.

Northeast Region: ILI Activity

Percent of doctors visits for ILI symptoms

Most states in the region did not report significant changes in outpatient visits for ILI. Exceptions include New Hampshire (+0.4 points to 3.1%) and Vermont (+0.6 points to 1.7%). Vermont also saw an increase in influenza ED visits.

In contrast, Maine reported a decline in the proportion of outpatient visits for ILI (-0.6 points to 2.8%), alongside a decline in the proportion of ED visits for flu.

In terms of hospitalizations, most states reported stable rates, including Maine (4.8 per 100,000), New York (3.8), New Jersey (2.8), Vermont (4.3), Pennsylvania (4.2), and Massachusetts (7.2).

New Hampshire (+0.5 to 2.9 admissions per 100,000) and Rhode Island (+0.7 to 2.5). In addition, Connecticut reported moderate increases in influenza hospitalization.

Activity in New York is easing, but slowly. At the state level, outpatient ILI is low at 2.2%, but hospitalizations remain above what is normally seen this time of year. New York City is quite a bit higher at 7%. Activity there is also dropping, but (again) slowly.

Northeast Region: Change in ILI Activity

Percent of doctors visits for ILI symptoms

COVID-19

All signals are turning green for Covid-19 in the Northeast, with improvements in wastewater, hospitalizations, and ED visits. I hope to see continued improvements through the summer months, until the season restarts in (probably) August.

Wastewater data continue to show improvements. We haven’t seen concentrations this low in the Northeast since the summer, although it still remains higher than it was last spring.

New hospitalizations for Covid-19 uniformly made moderate or substantial declines across the Northeast, with all states near or below the national average of 4.6 new admissions per 100,000 population.

Northeast Region: New COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Average rate per 100,000 population

There were substantial declines in hospitalization rates in New Hampshire (-20% to 3.2), Maine (-25% to 3.7), Vermont (-36% to 2.7), New Jersey (-36% to 4). Rhode Island saw rates fall by 55% to 1.8, which is the lowest rate in the region and the lowest it has been in Rhode Island since last summer. New York (-16% to 4.7), Connecticut (-14% to 4.9), and Pennsylvania (-13% to 4.6) saw moderate declines in new hospitalizations.

All states reported decreases in ED visits for Covid-19 (ED data was missing for New Hampshire).

Northeast Region: Change in New COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Weekly new hospitalizations per 100,000

Stomach Bugs

I expect norovirus activity is at or near peak (still) in the Northeast, with test positivity at 16.5%. The region usually sees highs this time of year, with improvements through April and beyond. Be careful out there!

Northeast Region: Norovirus Activity

Test Positivity, Percentage

Food recalls

The following foods are being recalled because they are contaminated. Please check your cupboards and throw out any of these items:

New

• Multiple brands of cinnamon sold at discount stores, for lead contamination. The best resource I found to quickly survey affected products is here.
• Raw Farm brand cheddar cheese (more info)
• Sargento Foods shredded cheese. This recall affects food service customers and does not include Sargento-branded retail products. (more info)

Previously reported:

• Roland brand Tahini (more info)
• Trader Joe’s Soup Chicken Dumpling (more info)

• A big recall of Queso Fresco and Cotija Cheese is affecting numerous consumer products: (more info)

• Robitussin Honey CF Max cough syrup products (more info)
• If you have food allergies, you may wish to review these FDA safety alerts and USDA alerts for foods with undeclared allergens.

In other news

• New York City health authorities have reported two cases of measles. Both have a history of international travel.
• New Jersey health officials have reported a mumps outbreak affecting eight family members in Hunterdon County, potentially linked to international travel. While mumps cases in the U.S. were just 436 last year, past outbreaks have seen over 6,000 cases. Symptoms include swollen cheeks and jaw, fever, and headaches.