Data reveal that a substantial percentage reporting influenza-like illness sought health care
THURSDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- A relatively large proportion of the U.S. population reported experiencing symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) during the 2009 to 2010 influenza season, and many of them reported seeking health care for those symptoms, according to data published in the Jan. 21 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The CDC reviewed data from community-based surveillance of self-reported ILI, defined as the presence of fever with cough or sore throat, as well as health-care-seeking behavior using a supplementary module of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System between September 2009 and March 2010.
Among 216,431 adults and 43,511 children (younger than 18 years of age), the investigators found that the average monthly percentage of respondents reporting ILI in the 30 days preceding the interview was 8.1 percent of adults and 28.4 percent of children. In addition, 40 percent of adults and 56 percent of children with self-reported ILI sought health care.
"The results indicate that reported symptoms of ILI were widespread during the 2009-10 influenza season, with a substantial percentage of those reporting ILI seeking health care," the authors write.
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