Flu Levels Remain Low In West Michigan

Reports of flu-like symptoms remain low in West Michigan and the entire country.

Nationwide flu activity was low last week as 1.3% of outpatient visits were due to flu-like symptoms. In Michigan, the rate was 0.5%, making it the lowest the state has seen in over a year.

Although statewide rates are low in Michigan, they are near normal for this time of year. The last three flu seasons have all had rates of reports of flu-like symptoms near or below 1.0% at the same time of the year. A notable recent exception is in the pandemic flu season of 2009-10 when reports were near 2.0% at this time of the year, then reached 10% about a month later.

Michigan is divided into four regions for flu activity reports. Northern Michigan is reporting the highest rate. The lowest is in Southeast Michigan, with near zero reports. Southwest Michigan is the only region which saw an increase over the last week. Central Michigan (which includes West Michigan) continues to follow closely along the state average.

Nationally, about half of states currently report no flu-like activity while the other half (including Michigan) report "sporadic" activity. North Dakota, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Puerto Rico report slightly higher rates classified as "local" activity.