http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/print_644317.html
County to closely monitor flu cases
By Allison M. Heinrichs
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Allegheny County is taking a different approach to track flu more quickly this season.
The county Health Department is gleaning data from six hospital emergency departments to determine the level of flu activity in nearly real time. In previous years, the county would send samples to a state lab near Philadelphia for testing, a process that typically yielded results after patients recovered, and left hundreds of cases unreported.
"Some people would get tested and others wouldn't -- so the actual number of cases wasn't really a good indication of flu activity," said Dr. Ron Voorhees, chief of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Health Department. "This new sentinel system gives us a better idea of how extensive flu is."
The county adopted the system at the end of April, after seasonal flu activity waned and before cases of the new H1N1 swine flu began to emerge.
Each day emergency departments report the percentage of patient visits that were due to flu-like symptoms. The baseline is typically about 3 percent.
In May the rate climbed to almost 5 percent when the county began to see H1N1 cases, but it fell to about 3 percent through the summer.
The levels started climbing again beginning Labor Day weekend and reached 5.6 percent but since have fallen to about 3.6 percent, Voorhees said.
All of the cases are believed to be swine flu because seasonal influenza is not yet widely circulating.
The county still periodically will send flu samples to the state's lab for testing to determine if other flu strains are emerging.
"As we learn that there are strains other than H1N1, that will be reported," said Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole. "They'll likely be the strains covered by this year's seasonal flu vaccine."
Seasonal flu activity typically picks up around Thanksgiving.
Voorhees would not reveal which six emergency departments are reporting flu data.
Officials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System could not immediately say whether their hospitals are participating.
The state Department of Health supports the county's surveillance system. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has a similar system.
"Hopefully, Allegheny County's effort proves to be another way to identify early signals in regards to whether we're seeing an increase in influenza-like illness," said Stacy Kriedeman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.
Allison M. Heinrichs can be reached at aheinrichs@tribweb.com or 412-380-5607.
ETA: http://www.achd.net/ Allegheny County Health Department
County to closely monitor flu cases
By Allison M. Heinrichs
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Allegheny County is taking a different approach to track flu more quickly this season.
The county Health Department is gleaning data from six hospital emergency departments to determine the level of flu activity in nearly real time. In previous years, the county would send samples to a state lab near Philadelphia for testing, a process that typically yielded results after patients recovered, and left hundreds of cases unreported.
"Some people would get tested and others wouldn't -- so the actual number of cases wasn't really a good indication of flu activity," said Dr. Ron Voorhees, chief of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Health Department. "This new sentinel system gives us a better idea of how extensive flu is."
The county adopted the system at the end of April, after seasonal flu activity waned and before cases of the new H1N1 swine flu began to emerge.
Each day emergency departments report the percentage of patient visits that were due to flu-like symptoms. The baseline is typically about 3 percent.
In May the rate climbed to almost 5 percent when the county began to see H1N1 cases, but it fell to about 3 percent through the summer.
The levels started climbing again beginning Labor Day weekend and reached 5.6 percent but since have fallen to about 3.6 percent, Voorhees said.
All of the cases are believed to be swine flu because seasonal influenza is not yet widely circulating.
The county still periodically will send flu samples to the state's lab for testing to determine if other flu strains are emerging.
"As we learn that there are strains other than H1N1, that will be reported," said Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole. "They'll likely be the strains covered by this year's seasonal flu vaccine."
Seasonal flu activity typically picks up around Thanksgiving.
Voorhees would not reveal which six emergency departments are reporting flu data.
Officials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System could not immediately say whether their hospitals are participating.
The state Department of Health supports the county's surveillance system. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has a similar system.
"Hopefully, Allegheny County's effort proves to be another way to identify early signals in regards to whether we're seeing an increase in influenza-like illness," said Stacy Kriedeman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.
Allison M. Heinrichs can be reached at aheinrichs@tribweb.com or 412-380-5607.
ETA: http://www.achd.net/ Allegheny County Health Department