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The article examines the severity of the seasonal influenza epidemic in Utah from 2016 to 2018. It provides important health data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics such as health visits due to flu, number of people who had the illness and population of patients who were hospitalized because of influenza through time. It discusses the partnership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Utah Department of Health to address the medical situation.

In September 2015, a Wyoming woman was admitted to a local hospital with a 5-day history of progressive weakness, ataxia, dysarthria, and dysphagia. Because of respiratory failure, she was transferred to a referral hospital in Utah, where she developed progressive encephalitis. On day 8 of hospitalization, the patient's family told clinicians they recalled that, 1 month before admission, the woman had found a bat on her neck upon waking, but had not sought medical care. The patient's husband subsequently had contacted county invasive species authorities about the incident, but he was not advised to seek health care for evaluation of his wife's risk for rabies. On October 2, CDC confirmed the patient was infected with a rabies virus variant that was enzootic to the silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans). The patient died on October 3. Public understanding of rabies risk from bat contact needs to be improved; cooperation among public health and other agencies can aid in referring persons with possible bat exposure for assessment of rabies risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the severity of the 2017-2018 influenza season in Minnesota and Utah. It identifies the characteristics of the severe season, including spot shortages of influenza antiviral medications and local severity assessments. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is acknowledged for creating resources to support such local assessments.