Outbreak Outlook - Midwest - Jan 27

Welcome to the Midwestern edition of Outbreak Outlook! It is only available to paid subscribers. If you wish to become a paid subscriber and access region-specific information, please click the Subscribe now button below. Thanks for reading! -Caitlin

Respiratory Diseases

ILI

As I wrote in the National edition, the Trump administration’s pause on health communications interrupted flu data, specifically outpatient influenza-like illness. To close the gap, I visited all 50 websites of the state health departments, and gathered what I could.

At the national level, flu defied my expectations by re-surging after two consecutive weeks of improvement. Unfortunately, the Midwest is one of the regions seeing more increases in activity. There is a distinct north-to-south gradient, with Minnesota and Wisconsin experiencing high activity. ED visits are also increasing in nearly all areas, suggesting we are still in the thick of flu season.

Minnesota dominates regional activity with the highest ED visits at 9.6% (up significantly from 8.2%) and leads hospitalizations at 11.6 per 100,000 (down from 14.2), with ILI visits at 5.7%.

Wisconsin shows sharp increases with ED visits at 6.1% (up dramatically from 3.9%, representing a 57.7% increase), with ILI visits at 3.8%.

The Dakotas show mixed patterns: South Dakota reports ED visits at 5.7% (up from 3.6%, ILI at 2.8%), while North Dakota shows ED visits at 4.3% (up from 3.0%, ILI very high at 9.5%).

Illinois shows elevated activity with ED visits at 6.0% (up from 5.1%). Michigan reports ED visits at 4.7% (up from 3.2%) with hospitalizations at 4.0 per 100,000 (down from 4.8).

Indiana shows ED visits at 4.5% (up from 3.8%). Ohio maintains lower but increasing ED visits at 3.8% (up from 2.8%) with hospitalizations at 4.1 per 100,000 (down from 5.0), and ILI visits at 5.8%.

Iowa reports ED visits at 4.8% (up from 3.5% ). Nebraska shows ED visits at 3.7% (up from 3.0%), with ILI visits at 1.5%. Kansas had the region's only decrease in ED visits at 3.1% (down from 3.3%), with ILI visits at 1.0%.

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COVID-19