Flu a factor in 5 deaths

State official predicts bad season, recommends shots

— Influenza has contributed to at least five deaths in Arkansas so far this season, Dr. Dirk Haselow, the state epidemiologist, said Friday.

“By all accounts, this year has the makings of a bad year,” he said. “We’re seeing it everywhere. It’s early and it appears to be severe. The flu season is here in force.”

According to the Arkansas Department of Health’s website, healthy.arkansas.gov, those most susceptible to the flu are children under age 5 and adults 65 and older.

“Usually, the deaths are in people who have underlying medical conditions, and that is what we’re seeing thisyear as well,” Haselow said, mentioning congenital heart disease and immune-system disorders.

Haselow said about 25,000 people nationwide die of flurelated illnesses every year. The flu can lead to pneumonia, which is often listed as the cause of death.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of seasonal deaths nationwide from 1976-77 to 2006-07 ranged from 3,000 to 49,000. According to CDC statistics, one child in Arkansas died of flu-related illness last season.

The flu season is generally from November throughMarch, Haselow said.

According to a Nov. 9, 2011, article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state had 11 flu-related deaths in 2010 and 53 the previous year, when the swine flu was a problem.

Haselow said he didn’t know more-recent statistics for the number of flu-associated deaths in Arkansas, and the people at the department who would know were out Friday because of the week’s bad weather.

The Health Department doesn’t disclose any details about the deaths, citing privacy regulations. About 50 physicians around Arkansas serve as “sentinel providers” and report flu information to the department, which is then sent to the CDC.

According to the CDC, for the week ended Dec. 22, Arkansas and 30 other states were experiencing “widespread” flu activity, which is based on geographical reach rather than intensity of symptoms.

Haselow encouraged Arkansans to get a flu shot. He said the strains of flu usedin the vaccine are closely related to the viruses that are circulating. Doctors’ offices, some pharmacies and county health departments provide shots, he said.

“The flu is typically a severe illness. Severe cough, high fever, body aches that make you feel like you were hit by a truck. The flu kills more people than HIV, AIDS or breast cancer,” he said.

Haselow said people can’t get the flu from the vaccine.

In Harrison on Friday, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center restricted visitation by people under 16 to slow the spread of the flu. The hospital has seen more than 100 cases of the flu, primarily in children, said Christy Hawkins, a spokesman for the hospital.

“We chose 16 because all of the children we have seen in our [emergency room] with flu this week are younger than that,” she said. “We are, of course, seeing some older people but most of them have been the younger age group. We are encouraging - and providing - masks for all of our visitors in an effort to prevent them from being exposed to the flu while they are visiting or transmitting the flu to our patients.”

The flu can be transmitted even before the infected person feels any symptoms, she said.

Hospitals can restrict visitation, Haselow said, and regularly exclude children during outbreaks “because they are highly efficient transmitters.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/29/2012

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