Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report [CDC]
CDC (U.S. Government) ^ | December 29, 2017 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Posted on 12/30/2017 1:38:11 PM PST by familyop

[Follow the link and scroll down for the following text and the map.]

ILINet State Activity Indicator Map: Data collected in ILINet are used to produce a measure of ILI activity* by state. Activity levels are based on the percent of outpatient visits in a state due to ILI and are compared to the average percent of ILI visits that occur during weeks with little or no influenza virus circulation. Activity levels range from minimal, which would correspond to ILI activity from outpatient clinics being below, or only slightly above, the average, to high, which would correspond to ILI activity from outpatient clinics being much higher than average.

During week 51, the following ILI activity levels were experienced:

21 states experienced high activity (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia).

New York City and five states experienced moderate ILI activity (Colorado, Hawaii, New York, North Dakota, and Virginia).

Eight states experienced low ILI activity (Alaska, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wyoming).

14 states experienced minimal ILI activity (Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin).

Data was insufficient to calculate an ILI activity level from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and two states (Connecticut and North Carolina).


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: epidemic; flu; influenza; vaccination
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last
To: Jane Long

Yeah _ I was in a hurry, not to mention a scarf would have been hard to keep out of the way no matter how tucked in. Some sensitive passages got too “cool-dried” no doubt.

Thanks for the wishes!


81 posted on 12/30/2017 10:10:41 PM PST by Paul R. (I don't want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world. -D. Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: Mom MD

One can have gastroenteritis (”stomach flu”?) and influenza at the same time, right?

I’m pretty sure that combo whacked me a few years ago...


82 posted on 12/30/2017 10:13:31 PM PST by Paul R. (I don't want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world. -D. Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: exDemMom
"I received a quadrivalent vaccine produced in cells this year."

Those poor, little...! I'll spare you the guilt trip on that one. Don't want to spark a riot around here. ;-)


83 posted on 12/30/2017 10:15:51 PM PST by familyop ("R-r-r-uff!" --Curly, "The Three Stooges")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: familyop

Yes, thanks - I’m back to normal activity, except that it’s so dang cold / dry (for here) outside. I’ve been deliberately doing some extra “deep breathing”, indoors.

I tend to have a lot of trouble getting my lungs completely cleared out after most any respiratory “bout”. No 2 year problems, but I’ve had it last 2 months, in a couple cases. It’s as if I get “95% better”, and can’t quite knock out the last 5%.

In this last case, with the brief kidney (?) discomfort, I wonder if I did not get enough fluids for a couple days there? Had no appetite either.


84 posted on 12/30/2017 10:22:40 PM PST by Paul R. (I don't want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world. -D. Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: Paul R.

As a now retired healthcare provider, I have seen complications from various medications, including vaccines, ranging from mild headaches to serious allergic reactions mainly from the transporting medium. The 5-9% risk rate would include ALL complications from minor to major, with most being in the minor to mild range. As one who prescribed medications conservatively, my philosophy was to always prescribe as to achieve the greatest positive risk/benefit ratio possible given the patients unique health circumstances. Again, for me, even the possibility of a minor headache made the risk/benefit ratio negative/not positive enough....for me individually. I have seen many of my patients and fellow colleagues contract the ‘flu’ after being vaccinated simply because the vaccine ‘missed’ the strain for that season. I chose not to ‘insult’ my system for a 40-50% chance of effectiveness against this particular malady. I do that with the consideration that nearly all medications/vaccines being an insult to some degree. That could change as my body ages and my ‘systems’ become less able to defend.....or not. Depends on the risk/benefit ratio for the given ailment. As a side, I did receive the Hep B vaccine series even though the complication rate at the time was between 8-10% but the effectiveness was 80-90%. A very positive risk/benefit ratio for me given my circumstances.


85 posted on 12/30/2017 10:38:50 PM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: familyop

Got it the day after Thanksgiving here in WA. First flu in 11 years (I can’t get the shot for health reasons). I was too wiped to even roll over for the first 36 hours. It took 2 weeks to get back to normal on my elliptical. I think one of my chickens had it too ... she got really weak and lethargic for two weeks ... would have died if we didn’t bring her in under the heat lamp.


86 posted on 12/30/2017 10:43:30 PM PST by lkco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Westerner

More health hazards require more ‘solutions’. I worked for the government in CA for 25 years providing healthcare for corrections. Most problems presented ‘opportunities’.


87 posted on 12/30/2017 10:44:22 PM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: Paul R.

Could be but my goodness that would be unlucky!


88 posted on 12/30/2017 11:52:16 PM PST by Mom MD ( .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 82 | View Replies]

To: Pollard

Have had several flu shots and always got sicker and had more minor illnesses in those years - being retired makes it easier to avoid high-risk areas...


89 posted on 12/31/2017 4:13:26 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone? I think Trump may give it back...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: VanShuyten

Yes, thank you-I read all labels so I know what is in it-and one size does not fit all-the combo of that with zinc, C and echinacea works for me and with no side effects-do I think it will work for everyone? Of course not-but I also know I have only gotten a bad case of the flu every time I decided to try the vaccine again, hoping for better results than last time-which never happened.

The doc who owns and operates the clinic in this rural area is a DO and an ethnic Chinese who is also into natural remedies, acupuncture and all other 1000’s of years old Asian stuff-he does not recommend the flu vaccine for anyone who has had a bad side effect before-he says to call him right away for tamiflu if you start to have flu symptoms.

His clinic has been open for 20+ years-several others have started up but they closed in less than 2 years-people quit going because the staff there didn’t believe in natural remedies, and wanted to write a prescription for drugs for everything/everyone. That doesn’t go over with most country people and old hippies like we are out here.

I insist on knowing all ingredients of anything-including food-it is the only sensible way to be-I don’t consume processed or frankenfoods, either-check out the ingredient list on a margarine label...


90 posted on 12/31/2017 12:13:02 PM PST by Texan5 (`"You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: yadent
Yadent, thank you for providing a well stated rationale on flu vaccine risk / benefits. Evidence indicates it's a racket, see sources below - WHO, CDC, Pharma shisters along with programmed unquestioning drone doctors have fooled the public into believing "how valuable it is to have your flu shot". They deliberately co-mingle pneumonia AND influenza mortality rate statistics to scare public with falsehood statements that: "flu kills 36,000 Americans each year". Here's the truth of it from The American Lung Association: "Pneumonia consistently accounts for the overwhelming majority of the combined pneumonia and influenza deaths. In 2013, 53,282 people died from pneumonia and 3,550 people died from influenza." http://www.lung.org/finding-cures/our-research/trend-reports/pi-trend-report.pdf Just follow the money... WHO scientists and advisors made MILLIONS of dollars pushing BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of ineffective flu vaccines worldwide: Swine Flu Pandemic: World Health Organization Scientists Linked to Vaccine Companies - ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFlu/swine-flu-pandemic-world-health-organization-scientists-linked/story?id=10829940 Scientists who advised the World Health Organization on its influenza policies and recommendations—including the decision to proclaim the so-called swine flu a "level 6 pandemic" had close ties to companies that manufacture vaccines and antiviral medicines like Tamiflu, a fact that WHO did not publicly disclose. The links between the advisors and the companies that make money from vaccines and flu treatments were detailed in a report published online by the British medical journal BMJ, which investigated the advisors' role in WHO's policy. Evidence of Bias in Studies of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in ... https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/201/2/186/2192007 Although studies have shown influenza vaccines to be effective in preventing death in the elderly population, these findings may be the result of sel. ... to inform health plan members ⩾65 years old that they could be vaccinated conveniently and at no cost; vaccination campaigns began after the second week of October. Flu Vaccine Efficacy Slips From Prior Estimate, CDC Says - Medscape www.medscape.com/viewarticle/882075 Jun 23, 2017 ... The vaccine worked the best among children aged 6 months to 8 years, at 61%, and the least among individuals aged 18 to 49 years, at 19%. For people aged 65 years or older — a demographic group that's especially vulnerable to the flu — effectiveness stood at 25%. The CDC reported the efficacy rates ... Why flu vaccines so often fail | Science | AAAS www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/why-flu-vaccines-so-o... Sep 20, 2017 ... For many decades, researchers believed the flu vaccine offered solid protection if it was a good match to the circulating strains; studies from the 1940s through the 1960s routinely showed an efficacy of 70% to 90%. But those studies relied on a misleading methodology. Without a simple way to detect the ...
91 posted on 12/31/2017 3:10:31 PM PST by MarchonDC09122009 (When is our next march on DC? When have we had enough?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: 21twelve

Ha, ha, nice!


92 posted on 12/31/2017 4:31:40 PM PST by Pining_4_TX (For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. ~ Hosea 8:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: Paul R.; 21twelve

My sister-in-law once saw someone wearing a “Minnesotans for Global Warming” sweatshirt. I need to have one made for Iowans.


93 posted on 12/31/2017 4:32:59 PM PST by Pining_4_TX (For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. ~ Hosea 8:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: MarchonDC09122009

Good money to be made from illness or fear of......if one is so inclined.


94 posted on 12/31/2017 5:19:57 PM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: yadent
Oh, I've been whacked by an allergic reaction to a "med"... an "inactive" ingredient in an Ester C tablet I took some years back thinking it would help me fight off a cold I was beginning to come down with. But I was no "pill popper" even then, as my outlook regarding medications in general is not that different from yours. Still, though, in the case of the flu vaccine, your calculation of risk / benefit ratio "escapes" me. Let's say the risk of a side effect of the flu vaccine, of the severity of a moderate headache, is 7%. The risk of getting a significant case of the flu in an average year appears to be, as best I can tell from some reading, roughly 10%, however, that # includes the approx. 46% or so of the population that gets vaccinated. This bumps the non-vaccinated population up to around 15% chance of getting the flu in an average year. So... we have 15% vs. 7%, or roughly a 2:1 ratio in favor of getting vaccinated.

However, that takes no account of the relative severity of the illnesses, nor the fact that a side effect is extremely unlikely to be communicable, whereas flu is highly communicable. Even if you don't have significant symptoms (ie., it's not a significant case for you), there is a 20-30% chance of passing influenza on. This is all hard to put a "solid" number on, but, a good case of the flu is surely 5x worse than a typical vaccine side effect, more like 10x IMO, and add on a couple points for communicability... I'll be conservative and say "7x",total.

Toss that in (multiply initial risk by severity + communicability) on both sides of the equation, and now you have a 14:1 ratio in favor of vaccination.

95 posted on 01/03/2018 5:42:41 AM PST by Paul R. (I don't want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world. -D. Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: NELSON111

“My doc told me last week that so far it’s been about 10% effective here in the states...:-(”

It is impossible to determine whether it was effective. The vaccine doesn’t not prevent you from getting the flu. If you are exposed enough, you will get it. My Dr gets it every 4-5 years because he is constantly exposed. I haven’t had it in 15 years, when I started getting the vaccine every year.
There is no way to determine if the vaccine prevented you from getting the flu


96 posted on 01/03/2018 5:51:09 AM PST by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: HangnJudge

The peaks are during the times of lowest sunshine exposure and thus the natural defensive production of vitamin d3

if you take a large dose of vitamin d3, your will have flu resistance


97 posted on 01/03/2018 5:55:11 AM PST by Thibodeaux (2018 is looking good)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: All

And remember, being cold does not make you sick. Being inside with sick people makes you sick.


98 posted on 01/03/2018 6:35:23 AM PST by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: Paul R.

Your numbers ‘add up’ IF the vaccine proves to be 100% effective against any particular year’s guessed at strain. Considering the average effectiveness of the ‘guess’ over time has been about 40-50%, the ‘numbers’ will be different based on actual effectiveness. Again, FOR ME, the risk/benefit ratio must attain a certain consistent threshold before I subject my body to ANY pharmaceutical insult. In the past I advised my patients accordingly depending on their unique health circumstances, always attempting to maintain the philosophy of DO NO HARM. If any year’s ‘guess’ was/is highly effective, GREAT! However if the ‘guess’ is a ‘miss’, why would I knowingly subject my patients to essentially a pharmaceutical placebo? Problem is the hit/miss results are sometimes not known until after the ‘season’........hence my advise was just that, advise not definitive preventative treatment conclusions.


99 posted on 01/03/2018 10:10:16 AM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 95 | View Replies]

To: yadent

Well, actually I took the 40-50% into account in coming up with the 15% figure for flu risk for unvaccinated individuals, as opposed to the usually published* number of cases actually occurring in the entire US population.

*So far as I can tell.

But where I think we really differ is in my factor for “severity”, and that I don’t judge a pharmaceutical risk / insult differently than a “natural” risk / insult, at least if the former has a fairly well established history.

Having said all that, I’ve been reflecting on that episode when that “inactive” ingredient in a vitamin C supplement whacked me. That was a “doosey”!

At any rate, it’s been an interesting discussion, tho’ I don’t think either of us will change the other’s outlook...

Take care.


100 posted on 01/03/2018 1:36:03 PM PST by Paul R. (I don't want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world. -D. Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 99 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson