ASHEVILLE, NC – January 29, 2025 – There is a surge of respiratory viral infections, like COVID-19, influenza (the flu) and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), during the cold winter months and this is taking place around here in western North Carolina.
The CDC’s COVID Dashboard shows no new data since last week’s report, for the week ending on January 11th, including
- The number of deaths in North Carolina due to COVID
- Emergency department visits for COVID-19
Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID, flu and RSV outbreaks. For the week ending on January 18th, the COVID-19 wastewater viral activity level for the state is high. The Buncombe & Henderson counties COVID wastewater data for the week ending on January 15th shows:
- The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is at a red level representing the highest level of 5 groups, currently between the 80th and 100th percentile relative to the past peak level measured at the same site.
- The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample was not reported this week.
During the week ending on January 18th, viral activity levels in the North Carolina wastewater were very high for influenza A and high for RSV. Both were very high in Buncombe County.
The CDC’s weekly flu surveillance report for the week shows no new data since last week’s report. For the week ending on January 11th, levels were high or very high in 42 of the 48 continental states, particularly in the South and the West. North Carolina was at a high level.
The CDC reports that the weekly percent of positive tests for RSV for the week ending on January 11th is almost 13% in North Carolina and below 10% in Region 4 (which are the states in the southeast U.S. including North Carolina). Region 4 had climbed to more than 10% from mid-November to the week of January 4th, reaching a peak of more than 15% around Christmas, the highest levels since last winter.
The weekly North Carolina Respiratory Virus Summary Dashboard for the week ending on January 18th shows:
- 14% of all emergency room patients had symptoms of a respiratory viral illness, no change from the previous week.
- Influenza-like symptoms represented about one-half of these patients, up 25% since last week
- There were more than 2 thousand hospital admissions from the emergency department in North Carolina for people who had a diagnosis, or symptoms, of respiratory viral infection, fewer than last week.
- ER visits and hospital admissions are at the highest levels since last winter.
There is a surge of respiratory viral infections during the cold winter months, as people spend more time indoors and due to an increase in indoor gatherings and travel during the holiday season. However, the COVID pandemic has made us aware that we can take steps to reduce spreading respiratory viruses. Therefore, we must protect at-risk groups who are susceptible to getting severely ill, like children younger than 5, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic medical conditions like heart and lung disease, and the immunocompromised.
Listen to the full report below:
Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org