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Source: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/...ront2/Reported-flu-cases-escalate-in-Delaware
Reported flu cases escalate in Delaware
BY HIRAN RATNAYAKE ? THE NEWS JOURNAL ? September 29, 2009
Delaware public health officials raised the level of influenza activity to "widespread" from "sporadic" after receiving 22 reports of influenza-like illnesses and 29 new lab-confirmed swine flu cases.
Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of Delaware's Division of Public Health, said the state will issue an alert to doctors today to make them aware of the new activity level, which is based on data from the week of Sept. 13 through Sept. 19. There was no specific threshhold that triggered the change in the level, Rattay said, but the flu-like illness numbers "went from seven one week to three the next week to 22 the next."
The state learned of all the most recent reports Friday, Rattay said. At the time, she said, she was unsure as to whether the activity level should have been classified as widespread or sporadic.
"It's a little bit of a judgment call, quite frankly," she said. "But the feeling is that because we're seeing an increase of influenza-like illness that we're going to go ahead and call it widespread. That's not a cause for alarm."
Swine flu didn't disappear after reports of it died down at the end of spring. But from mid-July to mid-September, Delaware also had a flu activity level listed as sporadic.
At the time, doctors didn't get an alert about the activity level. The state will now begin releasing weekly reports on flu activity since the normal flu season is approaching.
The 2009-2010 seasonal flu season technically begins Sunday.
In Delaware, the level can change from sporadic to widespread simply because of the number of reports the state is hearing of influenza-like illness.
"It's a possibility that it could go back to sporadic, but we are entering the season when we would expect it more," Rattay said. "The conditions are more conducive to influenza and the spread of influenza."
The public health division is asking doctors to send in specimens of certain patients with influenza-like illness to its laboratory.
Those are patients who either are hospitalized or who have a chronic illness. Others don't need to have their specimens sent in.
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"I think it's really important to mention that this does not change the assessment and treatment approach," Rattay said. "What it does is remind people that it's time to be prepared."
Doctors already are on high alert. Dr. Hugh Bonner of Wilmington said he saw plenty of flu-like cases in the spring, shortly after swine flu was confirmed among students at the University of Delaware in Newark. But he hasn't seen any patients with influenza-like illness in the past couple weeks.
He said he regularly visits the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site at www.flu.gov to track the activity level in Delaware.
"We're always on the lookout for flu but we also are much more on the lookout now than we were in other seasons," said Bonner, a primary care physician at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington. "Typically, it's from November to March that you're really looking for the flu. But it's a different framework because of [swine flu]. I'm sure that whatever the state patterns are, we'll start to see it soon here."
Francis Martin, an emergency room doctor at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford, said he and other physicians have seen very few patients with influenza-like illness so far.
"My radar is bound to be up a little bit more this season," he said. "I'm going to be watching more closely for cases of H1N1 that might be more severe."
Reported flu cases escalate in Delaware
BY HIRAN RATNAYAKE ? THE NEWS JOURNAL ? September 29, 2009
Delaware public health officials raised the level of influenza activity to "widespread" from "sporadic" after receiving 22 reports of influenza-like illnesses and 29 new lab-confirmed swine flu cases.
Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of Delaware's Division of Public Health, said the state will issue an alert to doctors today to make them aware of the new activity level, which is based on data from the week of Sept. 13 through Sept. 19. There was no specific threshhold that triggered the change in the level, Rattay said, but the flu-like illness numbers "went from seven one week to three the next week to 22 the next."
The state learned of all the most recent reports Friday, Rattay said. At the time, she said, she was unsure as to whether the activity level should have been classified as widespread or sporadic.
"It's a little bit of a judgment call, quite frankly," she said. "But the feeling is that because we're seeing an increase of influenza-like illness that we're going to go ahead and call it widespread. That's not a cause for alarm."
Swine flu didn't disappear after reports of it died down at the end of spring. But from mid-July to mid-September, Delaware also had a flu activity level listed as sporadic.
At the time, doctors didn't get an alert about the activity level. The state will now begin releasing weekly reports on flu activity since the normal flu season is approaching.
The 2009-2010 seasonal flu season technically begins Sunday.
In Delaware, the level can change from sporadic to widespread simply because of the number of reports the state is hearing of influenza-like illness.
"It's a possibility that it could go back to sporadic, but we are entering the season when we would expect it more," Rattay said. "The conditions are more conducive to influenza and the spread of influenza."
The public health division is asking doctors to send in specimens of certain patients with influenza-like illness to its laboratory.
Those are patients who either are hospitalized or who have a chronic illness. Others don't need to have their specimens sent in.
(2 of 2)
"I think it's really important to mention that this does not change the assessment and treatment approach," Rattay said. "What it does is remind people that it's time to be prepared."
Doctors already are on high alert. Dr. Hugh Bonner of Wilmington said he saw plenty of flu-like cases in the spring, shortly after swine flu was confirmed among students at the University of Delaware in Newark. But he hasn't seen any patients with influenza-like illness in the past couple weeks.
He said he regularly visits the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site at www.flu.gov to track the activity level in Delaware.
"We're always on the lookout for flu but we also are much more on the lookout now than we were in other seasons," said Bonner, a primary care physician at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington. "Typically, it's from November to March that you're really looking for the flu. But it's a different framework because of [swine flu]. I'm sure that whatever the state patterns are, we'll start to see it soon here."
Francis Martin, an emergency room doctor at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford, said he and other physicians have seen very few patients with influenza-like illness so far.
"My radar is bound to be up a little bit more this season," he said. "I'm going to be watching more closely for cases of H1N1 that might be more severe."