1. #Flu activity remains low in the US. A short thread on the data for the week ending March 11, which @CDCgov issued today.
The percentage of people seeking care for #influenza-like illness remains below the epidemic threshold. Early start, early end to this season.
2. I'm still watching to see if there is going to be a #flu B spring surge; so far no real sign of it. About one-fifth of the viruses tested last week were flu B, which is higher than earlier in the season. But one-fifth of a low number is a low number, as you can see here.
3. Another 7 children have died from #flu this season. The current total for the season is 132 and it's likely the tally will continue to grow. There's often a long delay between when a child dies from flu and when @CDCgov is informed.
(Data is CDC's, graph is mine)
4. On the issue of this being an early season: It's so visible in this graph showing flu hospitalizations. This has been a very normal year, numbers wise. (The 3 lowest years, circled, were exceedingly mild seasons.) What has been unusual about this year is how early it started.
5. Most parts of the country are well out of the grips of flu.
New Mexico is a puzzle to me; last year too it remained much more active, for much longer, than neighboring states.
The full FluView report is here: cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
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