Mississippi continues to see a downward trend in the number of flu cases. And the most dramatic change is in the public health district which includes Attala, Holmes, Carroll and Montgomery counties along with much of the Delta. There, the flu rate which had been just under 20 per cent has fallen by more than half. For the week ending January 10, the State Health Department reported a flu rate of slightly less than 9 per cent. The district historically has had the highest flu rate in Mississippi, reaching almost 27 per cent at the end of December.
The latest statewide numbers show that 3.7 per cent of patients seeing their doctors had flu-like symptoms, more than a full percentage point lower than the week before. That breaks down to a total of 520 suspected flu cases, compared to 761 the previous week. In the health district which includes Winston and Choctaw counties, the flu rate is now 2 per cent, the second-lowest the state. But there’s been a slight bump in flu cases in the district which includes Leake and Neshoba counties, up to almost 3 and a half per cent.
The CDC is now classifying flu activity in Mississippi as “low”. Only six states are seeing less flu than we are.
