Feb 22: There have now been 4 deaths due to Influenza reported in children in Georgia for the 2019-2020 season, and a total of 66 in all age groups. Nationally, the CDC reports 136 pediatric deaths and 20,000 deaths in all age groups. For perspective, in our nation with about 80 million children, the total number of children who die during a typical flu season is about 100-150. The big exception to this rule was the Pandemic of 2009, when over 1,000 US children died from the flu. The total deaths from flu nationally is generally thought to be 20,000 to 25,000
There has been a lot of press over the past few weeks concerning the Wuhan Coronavirus, a viral infection that was discovered in the city of Wuhan, China, in early December.
Measles has been very much in the news nationally in 2019. There have been over 1,000 cases, mostly in close knit communities in New York. Georgia has reported at least 8 cases, but so far no cases of measles have been reported in the Augusta area.
November 2109: Zika virus has not established an epidemic hold on the US mainland. While there was an outbreak in the Miami area two years ago with some sustained transmission, activity has since abated. There is high activity of Zika virus in South and Central America, but the virus is largely absent from the US mainland except for imported cases via tourism.