March 30, 2012. The Augusta area has seen little flu activity this season. There have been no reports of sustained flu activity in any Augustra area location and only one report of a small outbreak of less than 5 proven cases at a child care facilty. The central laboratory of one of the largest hospital in the region has reported only four PCR proven cases of influenza for the entire season that began in December. Warm weather generally heralds the end of the flu season, so it is unlikely that we will see significant expansion of influenza from this point.

Click on title to see current graph of Influenza-like illness (ILI) in Georgia. This graph from the Georgia Division of Public Health,updated March 30 2012, shows visits for influenza-like illness in our state through March 23. Clinic and Emergency Department visits for Influenza-like-illness (ILI) in Georgia peaked about 4.5% in December of 2011, and have been trending down ever since. Influenza activity in Georgia has been in the "minimal" range since the beginning of the new year. Georgia has largely missed the flu season this year, as has most of the US, but the season is not quite over. There have been no flu related deaths reported to the Georgia Division of Public Health this year.

December 29, 2011 There has been little to no impact from influenza so far in the 2011-2012 flu season. Most of the activity reported thus far in the US has been sporadic at best; many states report no flu activity at all. Two states report local activity, and no state has reported regional or widespread activity. The flu season has not yet arrived for most of the United States. We can expect significant flu activity to begin in January or February. Click on title above for more information.

Feb 18, 2011 There have been no deaths due to flu reported in Georgia in the past two weeks, and only 10 deaths since the season began on December 1. Three of the deaths have been in children over age 4, and 7 in adults. No deaths due to flu in children under age four have been reported so far this year. Based on the current population of Georgia, we can expect about 575 deaths per year due to seasonal influenza, including 518 adults over age 65. Click on title above for more information.

Jan 14 2011: Real flu season should start soon Dec 28 2010: Flu on the rise in Augusta? Dec 4 2010: First Flu Death in GA This Season Dec 2 2010: Video Flu Vacc Awareness Week Dec 1 2004: GA Tops Nation in Flu Nov 21 2009: Local H1N1 Website Launches

Jan 21, 2011 Medscape: ACIP issues new recommendations regarding antiviral therapy for influenza June 23: Declared Public Health Emergency for 2009 H1N1 expires Jan 14 New York Times: Google Flu Trends