Flu Cases Spike in MS

In a week’s time, flu cases in Mississippi have jumped from “moderate” to “very high.”  In fact, the CDC is classifying our flu rate at the third-highest level in its latest update for the week ending December 21.  And when the new numbers come out this week, it could be even higher.  It already is in most of our neighboring states.  Louisiana is at the CDC’s highest level, with Alabama and Tennessee at the second-highest level.   But Arkansas is seeing less flu than Mississippi, one level below us.

The State Health Department says the flu rate across Mississippi has jumped to 6.7 per cent as 940 of the almost 14,000 patients at 83 doctors’ offices had flu-like symptoms the week before Christmas. That’s still not nearly as high as it was for the same period last December, when the flu rate topped out at just under ten per cent.  When you drill down to the local level, the flu numbers are higher.   In the public health district which includes Attala and Holmes counties, the percentage is 14.7 and in the district which includes Leake and Neshoba counties, it’s just over 13 per cent.