Summary

• In week 29 of 2017 (July 17–23), emergency room visits and hospitalizations from all causes decreased among children under 15 years of age (by 9% and 8%, respectively) and remained stable among adults over 15 years of age.

• Most seasonal summer illnesses are down or stable across all age groups. However, there was an increase in visits for conditions directly related to heat among 2- to 14-year-olds (30 additional visits, or +30%) and among 15- to 74-year-olds (69 additional visits, or +20%), largely due to an increase in heatstroke cases. Also worth noting is an increase in insect bites (17 additional visits, or +16%) among children under 2 years of age. Finally, against the backdrop of a viral meningitis outbreak, the trend observed last week continues: visits for this condition have stabilized among adults aged 15–74, while visits among children have continued to decline over the past three weeks. Activity levels remain high compared to the previous two years.

• Most of the most common conditions are also declining or stable across all age groups. There was a slight increase (+7%) in visits for heart failure and chest pain among adults aged 75 and older.