North Carolina monitors flu activity through a sentinel surveillance program. Fifty-four health-care providers in 36 counties report the number of their patients who have flu-like symptoms (100 degrees or higher, and cough or sore throat).
Just three weeks ago, 7.65 percent of patients at the sentinel sites had flu-like illness. In the week ending Jan. 3, 3.5 percent of the patients at the sentinel sites had flu-like illness.
“We are cautiously optimistic that for now this flu season has peaked,” said State Health Director Dr. Leah Devlin. “The numbers of people with flu-like illness has dropped off substantially since mid-December, and we hope that trend will continue.”
Devlin said that although the season is trending downward, there could always be an additional spike upwards.
“In one season, you may get a second strain of virus that causes additional cases after the first strain has run its course,” she said. “We also believe that reporting during the holiday season may be lower than usual, so the numbers for past weeks could change as more data comes in.”
State Epidemiologist Dr. Jeffrey Engel said that while there has been a great deal of increased awareness of the impact of flu, particularly on young children, the 2003-04 season is shaping up to be an “early, moderate, Type A season.”
“Type A viruses, like the one that has affected people this year, always make people sicker than Type B viruses, like those that we have seen in the past couple of seasons,” Engel said. “But, for now, this season hasn’t really been extraordinary. It is pretty similar to past Type A seasons.”
The 2003-04 season, which began with high activity early in the season, received a great deal of media attention when several young Colorado children died as the result of the flu in mid-November. Those anecdotal accounts that the season might be affecting children more than past seasons prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ask states to report deaths of children as the result of flu and its complications. This was the first time the CDC had made such a request.
“Because pediatric flu deaths had never been reported, reporting deaths this year may have led people to think that something unusual was happening,” said Engel. “But, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Unfortunately, the flu has always killed people. It isn’t always a benign illness.”
Nine North Carolina children have died as a result of flu and its complications during the 2003-04 season. A 6-year-old Montgomery County boy who died Dec. 6 at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst was the state’s first confirmed flu death.
Twelve children died during the last season. The greatest number of pediatric deaths in recent history was 18 in the 1990-91 season. The highest number in recorded history was 209 in 1968-69.
This flu season, more than five times the number of children have been immunized than were immunized in past flu seasons. Although there has been a national shortage of the traditional injectable vaccine, health officials continue to stress that people at high-risk for flu complications (children ages 6-23 months, seniors over 65, people with chronic medical conditions, and pregnant women) seek vaccinations.
In the past week, 7,500 doses of pediatric vaccine have been shipped to local county health departments. An additional 9,350 doses of adult vaccine are due to arrive soon. Flumist, which is a new inhalable vaccine for healthy people five to 50 years old, is also available at local health departments. Citizens looking for vaccine should call their local health department.
Devlin said that people should remain alert for possible flu infection. People who are at increased risk of complications should consult their health care provider when flu symptoms begin. If flu symptoms are unusually severe (for instance, trouble breathing), you should consult your health-care provider immediately.
Flu symptoms begin suddenly and may include fever, severe headache, body aches, sore throat and cough. Flu can make a person more susceptible to pneumonia — an illness that puts a severe strain on the heart and lungs, which can be especially dangerous to people who already suffer from heart and lung disease.
Senior citizens are most likely to suffer complications from the flu, particularly pneumonia. Health officials continue to stress that people over age 65 get a pneumoccoal vaccine to protect themselves from pneumonia. There is no shortage of pneumococcal vaccine.
Those who develop flu-like symptoms should drink fluids, rest and stay home to avoid spreading the infection. Flu-sufferers may also take over-the-counter drugs such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, but aspirin should be avoided because taking it for some forms of flu has been associated with Reye’s Syndrome, a serious disease in children that can occur following a viral illness and that causes swelling of the brain.
Consumers should carefully check their over-the-counter medicines to ensure that any given to children do not contain aspirin. Consumers should also make sure to follow all directions on both prescribed and over-the-counter medicine. At least one death this flu season has been attributed to an overdose of acetaminophen.
Prescription drugs are also available to treat flu in some circumstances; they are most effective if taken within two days of developing symptoms. Antibiotics are not effective against viral diseases like flu.
General flu information can be found on-line at www.immunizenc.com. Citizens should call their local health departments to get details about vaccine availability.
