While Baxter County’s rate for public school absenteeism due to illness was once leading the state and now appears to have stabilized, for the reporting week ending Saturday, Marion County’s is now among the top five counties in Arkansas at 10.13 percent. The previous week, Marion County’s absenteeism rate stood at just 8.65. The state average is now 7.3 percent, up slightly from the previous week at an even 7 percent.
Four of the five counties with the highest rates of public school absenteeism are in the 10 to 15 percent range. The state’s highest rate stood at 24.09 percent in Desha County.
During the flu season, the Arkansas Department of Health produces a Weekly Influenza Report for clinicians. The report provides information on flu activity in the state.
Elsewhere across North Central Arkansas, Stone was at 5.13 percent, followed by Fulton at 5.54, Newton at 6.33, Boone at 6.56, Baxter at 7.12, Izard at 8.14 and Searcy County at 9.27 percent.
As of Saturday, the Arkansas Department of Health was aware of 16 schools having closed briefly due to the flu during this season.
The most recent reporting week was the first to indicate any outbreaks of influenza in nursing homes. Last week, three homes reported outbreaks. The report does not indicate the location of the nursing homes.
Since September 30, 2018, over 18,600 positive influenza tests have been reported to the ADH online database by health care providers. In week eight, 69 counties reported influenza cases. The majority of reports came from 15 counties across the state, including Boone.
The report also compares influenza-like illness in Arkansas to activity in the U.S. ADH receives reports of only a fraction of flu cases. Therefore, department officials note it is important to understand the information in the weekly update is representative of the timing and location of activity, but it does not reflect the overall burden of disease. It is presumed there are many more people actually affected than the report shows.
Among flu antigen tests that can distinguish between influenza A and B virus types, 92 percent were influenza A, and 8 percent were influenza B.
To date, 38 influenza-related deaths have been reported in Arkansas this flu season, including one pediatric death; 64 percent were not vaccinated.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI