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Influenza Reporting

What to Report*

  • Pediatric deaths (under 18 years of age) due to
    suspected or confirmed influenza
  • Nosocomial influenza among patients
    or residents of acute or long-term facilities
  • Novel strain with pandemic potential

* Do not report outpatient influenza-like illness (ILI) or suspected or
confirmed influenza except as noted above.

How to Report

  • Pediatric deaths (under 18 years of age) due to suspected or confirmed influenza meeting the following criteria:
    • Sudden pediatric death from unknown cause, but thought
      to be due to natural cause or  
    • Pediatric death with clinically compatible illness in which
      there is a positive influenza test or  
    • Pediatric death from unknown, febrile respiratory illness
    Report by phone to:
    • Bureau of Communicable Disease at 347-396-2600 or 
    • NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) at 212-447-2030
  • Nosocomial influenza among patients or residents of acute or long-term facilities. Include only those patients who developed illness more than 48 hours after admission.
    • One or more laboratory-positive case of influenza or 
    • A cluster of inlfluenza-like illness (2 or more cases) or 
    • Any increase over the baseline level of febrile respiratory illness
    Nosocomial laboratory-positive influenza must be reported to the
    NYS Dept. of Health. Report within 24 hours to:
    • NYSDOH at (518) 474-1142, or on nights and weekends, to
      1-866-881-2809 or 
    • Fax to (518) 408-1745 using the Infection Control (Nosocomial) Report Form.
    • For cases in long-term care facilities, please also notify the
      NYC DOHMH Bureau of Communicable Disease at 347-396-2600

Specimen Submission
Providers should not submit specimens for routine influenza testing to the DOHMH Public Health Laboratory (PHL). Testing at PHL is reserved for sentinel surveillance projects being conducted by DOHMH, for investigation of clusters, and nosocomial outbreaks.

Providers can use commercially available testing for influenza, including subtyping for novel influenza (H1N1).