The Spokane Regional Health District released the following information on Jan. 16 regarding the current influenza season, whish usually runs from early October through the end of May.
So far to date there have been 335 influenza hospitalizations within Spokane County this season (284 A, 51 B). Additionally, 46 influenza deaths have been reported in Washington State for this season with 14 deaths reported in Spokane County.
Antigenic characterization has been conducted by CDC on three influenza specimens collected in Washington state during the 2017-2018 season: Two influenza A (H3N2) specimens were characterized as A/Hong Kong/4801/2014-like, the influenza A (H3N2) component of the 2017-2018 vaccine.
Also, one influenza A specimen was characterized as A/MICHIGAN/45/2015-LIKE (H1N1)pdm09, the influenza A (H1N1) component of the 2017-2018 vaccine. Three influenza B specimens were characterized as B/Phuket/3073/2013-like, the B Yamagata lineage component of the 2017-2018 quadrivalent influenza vaccine.
Additionally, two cases of pertussis have been reported to date for the month of January in Spokane County, with three cases reported for the month of December and four cases reported for the month of November.
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