Not long after health officials noted that influenza seemed to be slowing down, it's apparently decided to linger.
For the past few weeks, the level of influenza and flu-like illnesses statewide has hovered around the "threshold," which epidemiologist Susan Mottice of the Utah Department of Health said is a mathematical formula to determine when case numbers are above an expected number, since flu circulates year-round.
That baseline determines when case numbers could be considered an outbreak. And the number of people with lab-confirmed flu seems to be hovering on the line, she said.
There's no such thing as an "average flu season," and one season says nothing about what the next year will bring, according to Mottice. In Utah, the flu season usually runs from November to March. "So we're within normal, but later than we've seen in the past couple of seasons."
Statewide, 188 people had been admitted to area hospitals with influenza as of March 21. There have been no reported pediatric deaths. (Adult deaths are not reported, because individuals usually die from something else, such as bacterial pneumonia, that occurs in conjunction with flu.)
It has been a hard flu season for young children.
"Children seem to be particularly affected this year," says Mottice. "About half the hospitalizations were children 0-4. The rates are highest in children under 1."
One problem, she said, is that peer-reviewed research found children with asthma are seriously under-immunized against influenza. Only 29 percent of them receive a vaccination. "And children with asthma are at particular risk for this disease."
As long as there's flu activity, she said, there's time to benefit from the vaccine, which is still available.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com