Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Flu bug flying through Valley
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/32171.html
Vaccinations are urged to fend off 'rip-roaring season.'
By Farin Monta?ez / The Fresno Bee
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Vaccinations are urged to fend off 'rip-roaring season.'
By Farin Monta?ez / The Fresno Bee
Health officials are encouraging residents to get the influenza vaccine as flu season continues to run rampant through Fresno, Tulare and Madera counties.
"It's still appropriate to get vaccinated," said Kristi Helgeson, public health nurse in Fresno County. "There is a limited amount of the flu vaccine at the county office, but people can go to their private physicians."
Dee Lacy, infectious disease physician at Kaiser Permanente in Fresno, said doctors think flu season peaked about two weeks ago, but they are still seeing huge numbers of patients testing positive for the virus and don't know if that was the season's actual peak.
"We started seeing cases right after Thanksgiving, but it really took off the second week of January, Lacy said. "Based on the prevalence of the positive tests for it, it's a rip-roaring season. It peaked out as 36% of samples positive, which is a lot."
Kaiser Permanente in Fresno found a way to accommodate the increase in patients during flu season.
"We opened another ward that we don't usually use," Lacy said.
Karen Haught, health officer in Tulare County, said clinics are overbooking and are extremely busy with patients reporting flulike symptoms.
"We have about 30% more patients during flu season," she said. "Maybe even 40% more."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5% to 20% of the nation's population gets the flu every year.
More than 200,000 residents nationwide are hospitalized annually from flu complications, and 36,000 die from those complications every year, according to the CDC Web site.
Lacy said it is difficult to tell whether the flu is more prevalent this year compared to previous years because Kaiser is using a new testing method.
"It may be that the new test is more sensitive, so we're detecting a lot of cases we may have missed with the old tests," she said.
The influenza is mild, Lacy said. The hospital has not reported an excessive death rate or cases of pneumonia from flu. "Maybe that means we're doing a good job of controlling it," she said, pointing out that Kaiser is targeting high-risk patients for the flu vaccine early.
The CDC reports the flu shot is approved for people age 6 months and older and recommended for young children, people older than 50, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions.
This year's influenza vaccine contains two strains of virus A and one strain of virus B.
"The flu shot is a very good match this year in A and B," Lacy said.
"Influenza A is the one that typically causes pandemics and epidemics because it changes more frequently," Lacy said. "It's like a moving target; there is a different strain each year."
The flu, a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza virus, is characterized by fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, dry cough, sore throat and runny or stuffy nose. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea occur more often in children with the virus but can occur in adults.
Lacy said people with a high risk of developing flu complications, such as people older than 50, young children and those with chronic diseases, should seek care within two days of contracting the flu.
The drug oseltamivir, popularly known as Tamiflu, can help patients recover faster from the flu, but doctors aren't freely prescribing it, Lacy said.
"Antiviral medication only works within the first 48 hours of becoming infected," she said. "Most people are going to get better without the use of the drug."
Lacy said the flu usually lasts a week in patients, as long as they drink a lot of liquids and rest.
Patients typically have high fevers for about four days after contracting the virus.
"As long as they're having high fevers, they are considered to be infectious," she said.
Children, especially those in schools and day-care facilities, are more likely to come into contact with the virus, health officials said.
In Fresno pediatric clinics, the number of flu patients peaked at the end of January and first week of February, Helgeson said.
Some Fresno businesses contacted, such as Target in River Park shopping center, said they hadn't noticed a major increase in employee absenteeism as a result of the flu.
In the first week of February, a Madera school had an increase in student absences related to viral illness, said Cheryl Edgar, nursing director for public health in Madera County. Only 12 students were absent from the school because of viral illness Feb. 2, but by Monday that number was 70 students, she said.
Health officials encourage proper respiratory etiquette, including washing your hands often with soap and water, sneezing and coughing into your shoulder or upper arm or into a tissue, and staying home from work or school when sick.
Doctors and health officials are hopeful that flu season will end soon. "I imagine it should be gone by the end of March," Lacy said.
