Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Respiratory Viral Activity In Southern California

As you can see from the graphs we are at the end of SEASONAL influenza and RSV seasons. We had only a few RSV positive samples last week for 1% of tested samples.

We are seeing some Parainfluenza (mostly 2 and 3) and a few human metapneumoviruses as well.

We have had a few influenza B isolated and of course we are all keeping our eyes fixed on the changing situation here and abroad with Swine Flu (H1N1).
The most up to date information can be obtained on the CDC website: CDC.gov/swineflu and I would recommend consulting this for questions concerning possible suspect cases. Currently , individuals in California with a positive exposure history who are symptomatic and test positive for influenza A are having their isolates analyzed by the county health departments for verification of swine flu. Recommendations for isolation, treatment and prophylaxis can be found on this frequently updated website.

RSV Activity

Respiratory Viral Activity

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

RSV Activity

All Respiratory Viruses (including hMPV)

Respiratory Viral Activity In Southern California

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Respiratory Viral Activity In Southern California

We are certainly winding down RSV (and influenza) season in Southern California. We had a late and slow influenza season and are just now seeing the tail end with more B in the community than A (we had twice as many B isolates last week than A, although the numbers are quite small). Interestingly we are also seeing some late season human metapneumovirus. Only two of our sites report detection of this virus, but hopefully next season we will have more sites performing PCR for this agent. Last week we had more hMPV isolates than RSV, influenza, adenovirus and parinfluenza combined!! We have now been <10% for two consecutive weeks, so officially we are OUT of endemic RSV, but stay tuned for detection of late season influenza and hMPV!

RSV Activity