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Respiratory Diseases

ILI

There is plenty of influenza-like illness in the Northeast, as we head into the biggest gathering weeks of the year. Still, the region is in better shape than other parts of the country when it comes to severe illness (plot below shows ED visits).

New York City leads the Northeast with very high outpatient ILI at 6.8%, up from 5.7%. New Jersey is next with outpatient ILI at 5.7%, up from 5.4% last week. ED visits there are quite low though, up to 1.4% from 0.8%.

New York and Connecticut show similar activity levels, with outpatient ILI at 2.9% and 2.8% respectively. New York’s ED visits doubled to 1.0% from 0.5%, while Connecticut’s ED visits rose to 0.6% from 0.3%. Massachusetts follows closely with outpatient ILI at 2.7%, as ED visits increased modestly to 0.8% from 0.6%.

Pennsylvania is reporting outpatient ILI at 1.9%, showing a slight decrease from last week, while ED visits increased to 0.8% from 0.6%.

Northern New England shows lower activity levels. New Hampshire reports outpatient ILI at 1.7%, with ED visits rising to 1.1% from 0.6%. Rhode Island and Maine show similar outpatient ILI rates around 1.5%, though their ED visit patterns differ. Vermont maintains the region’s lowest activity with outpatient ILI at 0.8%, while ED visits increased slightly to 0.3% from 0.1%.

COVID-19

Covid-19 is poised to make a comeback, though thankfully we are starting from a place of very low activity so it will be a while before levels are substantial.

New Hampshire leads the region with very high wastewater levels, nearly doubling from the previous week. ED visits increased slightly to 1.2% from 1.1%.

Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island all report high wastewater activity. Massachusetts shows ED visits increasing to 1.0%, while Maine’s ED visits rose to 1.2%. Rhode Island’s ED visits increased to 0.8% from 0.5%.

Pennsylvania maintains high wastewater levels with ED visits slightly increasing to 0.8%. Connecticut shows moderate wastewater activity with stable ED visits at 0.9%, while hospitalization rates decreased significantly to 0.2 from 3.2 per 100,000.

Vermont reports low wastewater levels with ED visits increasing to 1.1%.

New Jersey and New York show minimal wastewater activity. New York’s ED visits remained stable at 0.5%, while hospitalization rates decreased to 1.2 from 3.1 per 100,000.

RSV

RSV is up too, rounding out the “big 3” respiratory infections.

Massachusetts and New Jersey lead with ED visits at 1.1%, with New Jersey increasing from 0.9% last week. New Hampshire follows closely at 1.0%, up from 0.7%.

New York reports ED visits at 0.6% but shows elevated hospitalization rates at 3.0 per 100,000, up from 2.0. Connecticut shows ED visits at 0.8% with hospitalization rates increasing to 2.1 from 1.6 per 100,000.

The remaining states show lower activity levels. Pennsylvania reports ED visits at 0.6%, while Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine show decreasing activity levels from 0.5% to 0.1% in ED visits.

Stomach Bugs

Data were not updated this week, but I think we can assume that activity is still high!

Food recalls

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

New:

• None

Previously reported:

• Connie’s Thin Crust Cheese Frozen Pizzas (more info)
• Daily Veggies Enoki Mushrooms (more info)
• Sprouts Markers Market Gyro Family Kit (more info)
• MadeGood Granola Bars (various flavors and varieties) (more info)
• Blue Ridge Beef log Puppy Mix [for Dogs]. While not for human consumption, humans may be infected by Salmonella if they do not adequately wash their hands or contaminated surfaces after handling the product. (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

• Programming note: I’m off next week so there will be no regional editions. Happy holidays!
• North Penn High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has reported an outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough). Pertussis is having a banner year around the country.