Georgia Flu Surveillance Update: Week 42 – 2024

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Georgia Flu Surveillance Update: Week (Ending March 9, 2024)

As of Week 42, Georgia flu activity was Minimal=2 (on the scale of 1-13). Activity levels are based on the percent of outpatient visits in Georgia due to Influenza-like illness during this timeframe.

For the corresponding week, the percentage of outpatient visits for Influenza-like Illness was 2.6% (which is below the regional baseline of 3.2%), the number of influenza-associated death was 0 (0 total for the current ILI season); the number of Metro Area Influenza Hospitalizations was 3 (7 total for current Flu season); and the number of Influenza Outbreaks was 0 (0 total for current Flu season).

Map shows Influenza-like cases in US southern region. Georgia activity indicator is at level 2 (Minimal) on week 42 as shown in Green color.
For week 42, the graph shows slight increase of cases for age group 50-64. On the other hand, there is a decrease on cases for age group 00-04 and 05-24. Age groups 25-49 and 65+ remains stable compared to the previous week.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV) Surveillance

Data from NREVSS are also analyzed to measure the RSV seasonality. Antigen and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are analyzed separately to determine the start and end of RSV season. Season onset is defined as the first week of two consecutive weeks when the percent positive of ALL laboratory confirmed tests are greater than or equal a certain threshold. The end is defined as the first week of two consecutive weeks when the percent positive of ALL laboratory confirmed tests are less than a certain threshold. For antigen-based testing, the threshold is 10% and for PCR the threshold is 3%.

During week 42, clinical laboratories in Georgia reported testing 1,419 (2.5% positive) antigen specimens and 1,402 (12.6% positive) PCR specimens.
For week

For week 42, RSV PCR positive test results increased comparing to previous week.

Other Respiratory Disease Surveillance

Trends in influenza, RSV, and other respiratory viruses are displayed below using NREVSS polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing data.

For week 42, RSV, Rhino- Enterovirus and Adenovirus show an increased number of cases comparing to previous weeks. However, Parainfluenza and Coronavirus (Seasonal) show a slight decrease in cases when comparing to previous week. Influenza and hMPV remain stable.

Getting vaccinated is the best thing you can do to protect yourself and others.

District 2 health departments have vaccines available. Please contact your local health department for information on how to get your vaccine at https://phdistrict2.org/contact-us/

To learn more about how to protect yourself against flu and other respiratory diseases, visit DPH website at https://dph.georgia.gov/epidemiology/acute-disease-epidemiology/viral-respiratory-diseases and CDC website at https://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Related Files

GA ILI Viral Respiratory Diseases weekly update wk 42