Respiratory Laboratory Surveillance Data

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The goal of this dashboard is to allow users to visualize the trends in Louisiana COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Data sources and conditions are described below. Updates will occur weekly on Friday and will contain data up to the previous week (Sunday – Saturday).

Laboratory Surveillance Data: Data come from the Louisiana laboratory surveillance program, through which a network of hospital and clinic-based laboratories voluntarily submit weekly testing data. These laboratories perform rapid (antigen) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. Data are displayed as the percent of positive tests, where percent positivity is calculated by dividing the number of positive tests by the total number of tests performed.

Respiratory Viruses: Every year, respiratory viruses such as influenza (flu), COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cause hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths during the fall and winter virus season in the U.S. Illnesses can make anyone sick, but some people have risk factors that increase their chances of severe illness.

Respiratory viruses may cause both upper respiratory tract symptoms (for example, in the nose and throat) and lower respiratory tract symptoms (for example, in the lungs). Symptoms may include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Cough
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Decrease in appetite
• Sore throat
• Vomiting
• New loss of taste or smell
• Headache, muscle or body aches
• Diarrhea

More information can be found at: CDC – About Respiratory Illnesses.