ASHEVILLE, NC – February 19, 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 for the week ending on February 8th shows:
- Less than 2% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 2nd lowest level of 6 groups, an increase since last week.
- Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are minimal in North Carolina, representing a little more than 1% of all visits, stable since last week.
Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID, flu and RSV outbreaks. For the week ending on February 8th, the COVID-19 wastewater viral activity level for the state is high. The Buncombe & Henderson counties COVID wastewater data for the week ending on February 5th 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 has decreased from the previous week, at -9% to 0%, the smallest level of 2 groups for a negative rate of change.
During the week ending on February 8th, viral activity levels in the North Carolina wastewater were very high for influenza A and moderate for RSV. In Buncombe County, influenza A levels are very high, and RSV levels are high.
The CDC’s weekly flu surveillance report for the week ending on February 1st indicates that levels are either high or very high in 43 of 47 continental states (with 1 not reporting), particularly in the South, Northeast, MIdwest and the West. North Carolina is at a very high level.
The CDC reports that the weekly percent of positive tests for RSV for the week ending on February 1st is below 5% in Region 4 (which are the states in the southeast U.S. including North Carolina). It had peaked to more than 15% around Christmas.
The weekly North Carolina Respiratory Virus Summary Dashboard for the week ending on February 8th shows:
- About 20% of all emergency room patients had symptoms of a respiratory viral illness, a decrease from last week.
- Influenza-like symptoms represented more than one-half of these patients
- There were more than 3 thousand hospital admissions from the emergency department in North Carolina for people who had a diagnosis, or symptoms, of respiratory viral infection, an increase since last week. More patients were admitted with the flu than other respiratory disease.
The COVID pandemic has made us aware that we can reduce the spread of respiratory viruses by following specific public health measures, like vaccination, washing hands, staying home when ill, and covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing. Therefore, we should take these steps to protect at-risk groups who are susceptible to getting severely ill, 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:
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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org