From Fox17 in Nashville: Tennessee is among 7 states leading the nation in flu activity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventio
From Fox17 in Nashville: Tennessee is among 7 states leading the nation in flu activity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The latest CDC FluView report for the week ending December 23 shows Tennessee is experiencing “very high” influenza like activity. Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) data for the same period shows the percentage of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness went up to 11.9% compared to 7.2% the previous week.
Areas with the highest rates of illness are Shelby County/Memphis, reporting a 19.5% rate, followed by Madison County/Jackson (13.6%), Hamilton County/Chattanooga (13.2%), and the Northeast Region of the state with a rate of 12.5%.
The CDC reports Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and New Mexico are states reporting very high levels of spread. Nationally, the overall hospitalization rate for the period is the second-highest in-season rate at this point in the flu season, second only to last season.
Those most impacted by the flu so far this year in terms of hospitalizations are adults 65 and over (38.8%), adults 50 to 64 (18.9), and children 4 years or younger (16.6%).
