STORM2K

This flu season is turning out to be VERY deadly and it's only just begun! Hope everyone has had their flu shot!

Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 4, 2003 12:00 AM


Health officials are investigating the influenza virus death of a 5-year-old Maricopa County child who was on vacation in California.

Details were sketchy late Wednesday but came on the same day Colorado announced that two more children had died of the flu, bringing to six the number of children who have died in that state.

"There's good evidence that this is a tough flu this year," said Dr. Bob England, epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services. "It's making people sicker than they normally would be."

Although 20,000 to 40,000 Americans die of the flu each year, children usually emerge relatively unscathed from the viruses.

"It's not unprecedented," England said, "but it's not common for healthy young children to die, either."

Doug Hauth, spokesman for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, would not release any details about the case until this morning.

But other health sources said the case involves a 5-year-old child who contracted the virus in the Valley but died out of state.

Three of the child's family members also became ill with the flu and remained hospitalized, sources said, and virologists isolated an influenza A strain.

Dehydration is one of the key problems for children who contract the flu.

Although influenza has been reported in at least six Arizona counties to date, it has spiked first and most severely in Pima County, England said.

"That won't last long. We expect to see it (in Phoenix) at that level in about a week," he said.

As of Wednesday, Maricopa County had confirmed 137 cases of flu. That is likely an underestimate, however, because most doctors don't test for flu, and many patients don't seek medical help when they come down with the virus.

Arizona's outbreak ranks as "regional," the second-worst category established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The state is surrounded by regions with "widespread" flu activity, however, which is the worst category.

Despite its prevalence, doctors say they are seeing "typical flu" among Arizona patients.

"It's hitting hard. It looks big right now in Tucson, but we have not seen some of the primary complications of influenza that can be life-threatening," said Dr. Eskild Petersen, adult infectious-disease specialist at University Medical Center.

The emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tucson has seen a 25 percent increase over last year, to 5,579 from 4,445 patients, blamed on flu.

Six to eight elderly patients daily have been hospitalized and put on ventilators to help them breathe, an official said.

At Tucson Medical Center, the majority of youngsters who arrive daily in the pediatric emergency department are suffering from flu, said Dr. Ronald Salik, medical director.

Meanwhile, one of the largest operators of flu clinics is reopening grocery-store clinics that closed Tuesday.

Dr. Art Mollen said he decided to reopen the clinics because of growing demand. The Mollen clinics are expected to receive a thousand doses of flu vaccine today.


Dennis

Wow! Glad I got my flu shot back in October.

It's getting BAD out here!

Flu kills 2 Valley seniors
4 more child deaths also investigated

Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 6, 2003 12:00 AM


The flu has claimed the lives of two Valley seniors and may have caused the deaths of four more children in Maricopa County, state health officials said Friday.



Influenza questions and answers


QUESTION: Will I be able to get a flu shot?

ANSWER: There have been shortages in some hard-hit areas. The largest vaccine manufacturers have distributed all of the vaccine they have produced, 83 million doses, and they can't make any more quickly. Americans had never used more than 80 million shots.

Q: Who needs the flu shot most?

A: People 50 and older, infants and toddlers, people with asthma, diabetes, chronic heart or lung disease and weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV; and women who will be more than three months' pregnant during the flu season.

Q: Several children have died of the flu. Are they considered more at risk for this year's flu strain?

A: Experts are concerned that so many children seem to be affected, but they say they have too little information to consider them at greater risk for the flu.

Q: How do I know if I have a cold or the flu?

A: Colds usually begin slowly and typically last only two to seven days. Flu often begins with a sudden headache and dry cough, possibly a runny nose and sore throat; also achy muscles and extreme fatigue. There may be a high fever. Most people feel better in a couple of days, but the tiredness and cough can last much longer. Flu can cause severe illness and life-threatening complications.

Q: What flu symptoms are dangerous?

A: A combination of symptoms - sustained fever and chills, chest pain that gets worse when taking a deep breath and sputum that's a yellow color - can indicate pneumonia, and a doctor should be consulted.


Q: How is flu spread?

A: It spreads when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks and the virus is sent into the air.



Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention




Their announcement that they are investigating the four children's deaths came as the nation's two vaccine manufacturers said they had run out and aren't able to make any more in time for this season.

"We're investigating fatalities in four cases, but it's premature to say anything else," Dr. Larry Sands, medical director for epidemiology and biodefense at the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, said of the children's deaths.

Earlier in the week, county health officials said they were investigating the likely flu death of a healthy 5-year-old West Valley boy. Lab reports confirming the cause are still pending in the case. The child died in California while spending Thanksgiving with his family. His parents and an older sibling also were hospitalized with the flu.

The four new cases are scattered throughout the Valley, Sands said.

All childhood deaths after a flulike illness will be investigated this year, he said, because the flu appears to be striking earlier and harder than in the past three years. In Colorado, five children have died of the flu and two others are being investigated.

On Friday, county health officials called a rare news conference to discuss the flu, an annual disease that kills 36,000 Americans on average.

"We're all concerned with the growing volume of information about the nation's influenza situation," said Dr. Jonathan Weisbuch, director of the county health department.

The flu is characterized by a sudden onset of coughing, sniffles and fever that continue even after taking over-the-counter fever reducers.

Parents should be on the lookout for fevers not relieved by medicine and changes in a child's behavior, such as not eating, drinking or playing. Most severe symptoms include difficulty breathing. Children become dehydrated in severe cases, leading to organ failure and death. They also can develop a secondary bacterial infection that overtakes their lungs or heart.

County and state health officials began flu surveillance at various hospitals and other sites in September, months before the annual season typically starts in Arizona. Like the rest of the country, they noticed the flu hitting harder and earlier.

"But we haven't reached our peak," Sands said, adding that predicting the peak is difficult during any given season.



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Health officials began paying particular attention to child fatalities after flu deaths were reported in other states.

Flu deaths are rare in healthy children. In Maricopa County, the number of flu deaths in newborns to 9-year-olds ranged from zero to one in the past three years.

The first childhood flu death this year "caught a lot of people's attention because it was early and in an otherwise healthy 5-year-old," said Dr. Bob England, state epidemiologist.

England said he expects health officials to examine many more flu deaths in children this year because of it.

The sudden vaccine shortage could worsen the outbreak. Flu clinics in the state are slammed with procrastinators wanting to be immunized.

Sands said it is difficult to assess how many doses of vaccine are available in the Valley or the state because private physicians generally aren't asked to report that information to a central database.




Dennis

This particularly deadly strain of flu
seems to be mutating itself. They're not
even sure if the current flu vaccine will
work against this particular strain, but,
not taking any chances and getting your
flu vaccine would be the better choice if
you can take it!

I heard on MSNBC yesterday that this mutated strain is going thru another mutation and could become even MORE deadly!

Dennis

In my microbiology class last semester, my teacher explained the seriousness of genetic mutations occuring with the influenza virus. It's pretty scary to think about. What they are worried about is when two different strains of influenza meet up within one host. The DNA from the two strains can recombine and form a new potentially deadly strain. There is research being done on this. Plus, like many others have said, there is the vaccine available. I agree that it's your best best to be vaccinated. It's hard to believe that this common illness, the flu, which we have all had before and just dismissed as a non-threatening ailment, is now considered dangerous. I had no idea soooo many people died each year from the flu!