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Respiratory Diseases

Influenza

We are seeing steady improvements in flu season, but activity levels are still on the high side compared to what we normally expect in springtime.

New Jersey leads the Northeast in flu activity with outpatient ILI at 5.4% (down slightly from 5.6% the previous week). ED visits stand at 2.6%, down from 3.3%.

Maine reports the second highest outpatient ILI at 4.5%, a big decrease from 5.8% the previous week. The state maintains one of the region’s highest ED visit percentages at 3.7%, though this is a significant drop from the previous week’s 5.3%.

Northeast: Outpatient influenza-like illness

% of visits to the doctor that are for fever and either cough or sore throat

New York state and New Hampshire follow closely with ILI rates of 4.2% and 4.1% respectively. New York saw a notable decrease from 5.6%, while New Hampshire dropped from 4.7%. New York reports the region’s highest hospitalization rate at 6.0 per 100,000, down from 7.9. New Hampshire has the highest ED visit percentage in the Northeast at 3.7%, which decreased significantly from 5.4% the previous week.

New York City is still reporting very high outpatient ILI at 7%. Activity is coming down—but verrrry slowly—and remains well above what we normally see this time fo year. A large fraction of activity in the city, over half, is influenza B.

Massachusetts and Connecticut share similar ILI patterns, with rates of 3.9% and 3.6% respectively. Massachusetts decreased notably from 4.8%, while Connecticut saw a smaller decline from 3.8%. Connecticut has the region’s second highest hospitalization rate at 3.7 per 100,000, a decrease from 6.9. ED visit percentages stand at 2.4% for Massachusetts (down from 3.4%) and 3.3% for Connecticut (down from 3.8%).

Rhode Island and Pennsylvania report the lowest ILI activity in the Northeast. Rhode Island shows a 3.0% ILI rate (down slightly from 3.1%) with ED visits at 1.7%, the lowest in the region. Pennsylvania has the region’s lowest ILI at 2.3% (down from 2.8%) with ED visits at 2.3%. Vermont, while not included in the ILI dataset, reports ED visits at 2.7%, down from 3.7% the previous week.

Northeast: ED visits for influenza (%)

% of visits to the emergency department that are for influenza

COVID-19

We seem to be entering a lull in much of the region. Wastewater activity held steady at a low level this past week, and severe illness continued to decline.

Wastewater activity is very low in New York, Maine, and Vermont. It is low in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. However, wastewater activity is high and increasing in Connecticut and New Jersey.

Northeast: Covid-19 wastewater concentration

Wastewater concentration of SARS-CoV-2

ED visits were minimal (<1.5%) and held steady or declined in every state in the region this past week. Hospitalizations are stable or decreasing across the region, with most states reporting quite low rates. Pennsylvania continues to be the exception, with an elevated rate of 5.5 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, though this decreased again this past week.

Northeast: ED visits for Covid-19 (%)

% of visits to the emergency department that are for Covid-19

RSV

Not much going on with RSV. Activity continues to recede as we head further into spring.

Other Bugs

Several other causes of cold and flu-like symptoms are circulating:

• Human metapneumovirus has sharply increased and is now at its highest point this season.
• Human coronaviruses appear to have peaked a few weeks ago, and while rates are still high, they are on the way down.
• Adenovirus is picking up a bit again, after peaking near the end of the year.
• Rhinoviruses/enteroviruses remain low, but have increased a bit this fast few weeks.

Stomach Bugs

Tiny bit of good news on the norovirus front. Norovirus rates have decreased for the past two weeks, and test positivity is now at 15.1%. This is still very high, but is – just barely – lower than it has been at any point since the beginning of December.

Source: CDC

Food recalls

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

New:

• Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s frozen meals (more info)
• Savage Pet Cat Food Chicken [for cats]. Due to potential contamination with H5N1 – this poses a health risk for cats as well as potentially to humans as well. (more info)
• SeaBear Smoked Clam Chowder and Alehouse Clam Chowder (more info)

Previously reported:

• Enoki mushrooms sold under Daily Veggies brand (more info)
• Hot pot sauce sold under Wangshihe brand (more info)
• Prepared vegetables sold at Tokyo Central/Marukai stores in California (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

• My household was struck by flu B this weekend, so I do not have items for this section this week.