The data shared here is Emergency Department visits, outpatient visits and the number of positive flu tests from local providers.
Influenza like illness (ILI) is defined as: Fever >100◦ plus cough and/or sore throat, in the absence of a known cause.
Classification of ILI is based upon symptoms only and does not require testing.
Coronavirus like illness (CLI) is defined as symptom terms, free text, or discharge diagnoses specified by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention that are likely to be related to illness caused by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. The visits within these criteria will contain a percentage of illnesses caused by conditions other than novel coronavirus infection. This data is considered preliminary and are not confirmed diagnoses of the disease.
Influenza is not a reportable condition, so any data collected is voluntarily provided by community members.
Not all Emergency Department (ED) visits published here are diagnosed as influenza; some are discharged with a diagnosis of rhinovirus, bronchitis, or other upper respiratory infection.
The ED data is retrieved from the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE-TN). Currently, 11 out of the 12 ED's in Shelby County submit data to ESSENCE-TN. Off-season ILI is included for baseline comparison.
Outpatient visit data is collected by the CDC's Sentinel Provider Network and reported to Tennessee Department of Health weekly.
Some local providers also voluntarily report the number of positive flu tests. This data is presented in a table.
For information about infection prevention, national activity or detailed information about the influenza virus, please visit the CDC Influenza page. For information about influenza activity in Tennessee please visit the TN Department of Health web page.