Board hears early peak in respiratory season; Mesa County has no measles cases though Colorado has reported cases

Sally Born, Health Protection Division Director, told the Mesa County Board of Public Health that the county’s recent respiratory-illness season (defined by the agency as Oct. 1–Mar. 31) peaked earlier than in prior years and that primary-care visits for influenza-like illness declined steadily after a January surge.

"Our flu season this past go around the peak hit much quicker than previous seasons," Born said, adding that hospitalizations began to decline in January. Board members asked about length of stay and age breakdowns; Born said staff can provide age-specific and hospitalization-length data on request but did not have those figures at the meeting.

Born also provided a brief measles update. At the time the slides were prepared, she said, there were "a little over 1,600 cases nationwide with 17 outbreaks" and 13 cases in Colorado, none of which were in Mesa County. The health protection team is monitoring the situation and preparing protocols to respond if local cases appear.

Vaccination context: board members asked whether vaccination rates explain the early peak; staff said vaccination data are not reportable to the health department in a way that allows precise overlay with ILI data and that vaccine effectiveness varied this season, offering partial protection.

What’s next: staff offered to provide requested breakdowns (age groups and lengths of stay) and said they will continue monitoring hospitalizations and outbreaks; no policy decisions were taken.