Influenza Surveillance

Reporting Requirements | Collecting Respiratory Specimens | National Data

**Due to the recent database enhancements, the processing of flu lab reports may have been delayed and resulted in a lower than expected number of confirmed influenza lab reports for the current reporting week in the Weekly Influenza Activity Report. However, ILI, outbreak, and Vital Records data are up to date.**

2021-22 Influenza Surveillance

Please click here to view the Weekly Influenza Activity Report in PDF format.
Please click here to download the Weekly Influenza Activity Dataset.
Please click here for information on Sentinel Influenza Reporting for Virginia

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has changed the way pneumonia and influenza  (P&I) deaths are aggregated.

Traditionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and VDH have reported pneumonia and influenza together in order to better measure the burden of influenza-related deaths. When people die of the flu, they are more likely to die from a complication of the flu infection - not from the original infection itself. These complications can include pneumonia, sepsis, or exacerbation of underlying conditions like heart disease and diabetes. When presented together, P&I deaths are a better measure of influenza-related mortality. For more information, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become even more difficult to measure flu-related mortality. Some people who died of pneumonia were actually COVID-19 deaths. In order to reduce confusion and standardize surveillance practices, VDH is reporting pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19 (PIC) deaths for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 flu seasons.

COVID-19 mortality data are not strictly comparable to PIC data. Due to the high priority of the ongoing pandemic, COVID-19 mortality combines information VDH has learned through both case investigations and through death certificate surveillance. PIC data are collected through death certificate review alone. For data on deaths attributable to COVID-19 alone, please visit https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-in-virginia/.

Prior Season Archives

National Influenza Surveillance Data