Influenza

The US influenza surveillance season runs from the 40th week of the year (using CDC’s MMWR calendar) through the 20th week of the next year. For the 2022-2023 season, Week 40 (22-40) began on 10/02/22 and reporting for Week 20 will end on 05/20/23 (23-20).

Influenza, by itself, is not a reportable disease, meaning that it is not one of the diseases that state laws mandate be reported to public health authorities. This means that public health authorities do not have a simple data source to measure the incidence (occurrence) and impact of influenza. For this reason, influenza surveillance is conducted looking at different factors and data sources. In Ohio, pediatric deaths due to influenza and hospitalizations of persons of any age due to influenza are reportable.

Hospital Admissions

Influenza-associated hospitalization is a reportable condition under Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3701. Hospitalization is defined as admission to an inpatient ward of the hospital; an overnight stay is not required.

Outpatient Visits for Influenza-like-Illness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partners with clinics and medical practices in a voluntary program called ILINet, through which the number of individuals with certain symptoms similar to influenza (“Influenza-Like-Illness, or ILI) are reported weekly, along with the total number of patients seen at the clinic or practice. This voluntary (“sentinel”) reporting allows for the calculation of the percentage of outpatient visits attributable to ILI. Within Cincinnati, three sites participate in this program. The three sites in Cincinnati are two full-scale primary care health centers, a school-based health center at a high school. In addition to reporting patient numbers, sentinel clinics collect (from patients meeting specific criteria) nasopharyngeal swabs for testing at the Ohio Department of Health. This testing is used to track the type and strain of influenza circulating during the influenza season.

Please click below to view the most recent weekly seasonal influenza activity reports.

2023

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 5/14/23 to 5/20/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 5/7/23 to 5/13/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 4/30/23 to 5/06/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 4/23/23 to 4/29/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 4/16/23 to 4/22/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 4/09/23 to 4/15/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 3/26/23 to 4/1/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 3/12/23 to 3/18/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 3/5/23 to 3/11/23

Cincinnati Influenza Activity Report - 2/26/23 to 3/4/23