Chicago Respiratory Virus Lab Surveillance with Weekly Test Counts

Weekly aggregated PCR test data for influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and other viruses, reported by Chicago and commercial laboratories. Influenza data is available from the 2010-2011 season onward, while other virus data starts from 2019-2020. The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) uses this voluntarily reported data to monitor respiratory virus activity, though it does not contain patient demographic or geographic information.

Use Cases

• Forecast weekly positive cases for a specific virus using `lab_tot_positive`, `pathogen`, and `week_end` (from 14 available columns).
• Analyze seasonality by comparing `lab_pct_positive` across different `season` and `mmwr_week` values (from 14 available columns).
• Build a dashboard tracking testing volume and positivity trends using `lab_tot_tested`, `lab_tot_positive`, and `current_week_ending` (from 14 available columns).

Strengths

• Data covers multiple respiratory viruses, including influenza, RSV, and SARS-CoV-2.
• Provides both weekly and cumulative metrics for tests and positives.
• Influenza data has a long temporal coverage, starting from the 2010-2011 season.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data represents both Chicago and non-Chicago residents, which may affect geographic specificity.
• All data are provisional and subject to change, as noted in the description.

Provenance

Source

Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), via data.cityofchicago.org.

Collection Method

Voluntarily reported weekly PCR test data from several hospital and commercial laboratories.

Time Range

Influenza data from 2010-2011 season to present; other viruses from 2019-2020 to present.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-03 17:33:35.

Geography

Primarily Chicago, Illinois, though data includes tests on non-residents performed by reporting facilities.