LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – While state health officials are reporting a statewide increase in flu activity, in Lake County seasonal flu numbers aren't yet showing a spike.
Last week, the California Department of Public Health confirmed the state's first flu death of the 2014-15 season in a person under age 65 – an adult from Southern California.
State Health Officer Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health, said flu activity is beginning to increase statewide, and he encouraged people to get flu vaccinations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that widespread influenza activity has been reported in 46 states, with 26 pediatric influenza deaths reported so far since September.
Influenza-related deaths in people under 65 years are reportable to state and local health officials. Outpatient flu cases, however, are not reportable.
In the 2013-14 flu season, California had 404 deaths, up from 113 deaths the previous year and the highest number since the 2009-10 flu pandemic year, when 542 people died of flu statewide, according to California Department of Public Health statistics.
Lake County had one flu death in the 2013-14 flu season, compared to no deaths since the 2009-10 pandemic flu season, based on state data.
Last year there also were four Lake County patients admitted to the intensive care unit due to flu, compared to none the previous year. There had been two ICU cases in the 2009-10 season and two in 2011-12.
Dr. Karen Tait, Lake County's health officer, said that so far this year, she's aware of only one reportable flu case – an individual under age 65 who was admitted to the intensive care unit – in Lake County.
She said she considers the case “suspect” because she hasn't yet seen the lab tests.
However, she expects it eventually will be a confirmed flu case.
While outpatient cases of flu are not reportable to public health – meaning local health care facilities aren't required to report such cases – one of the local hospitals shared its flu testing results through the end of calendar year 2014 with Lake County Public Health, “and we were not yet seeing an uptick in positive tests,” Tait said.
Tait said flu vaccination is recommended for everyone 6 months of age or older, but is particularly important for those at higher risk of severe influenza, including pregnant women, children under 5 years of age, the elderly, and persons with certain underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, asthma and heart disease.
Vaccination of pregnant women also helps to protect infants too young to be vaccinated, Tait said.
Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue.
While the CDC reported that this year's flu vaccine isn't working as well as usual against flu viruses from the H3N2 influenza A strain – which has so far been the most common this season and has had the highest seasonal mortality levels of the past decade – health officials at the local, state and federal levels continue to urge people to be vaccinated.
Roughly half of the season’s H3N2 viruses that have been analyzed are “drifted,” with antigenic differences from this season’s vaccine H3N2 virus, Tait reported.
While the vaccine’s ability to prevent infection with drifted H3N2 virus may be diminished, Tait said immunizations given in past seasons against drifted viruses have still proved beneficial.
“Even if the vaccine isn't a perfect or good match, one can still expect some benefits from it in terms of reducing severity of illness,” Tait explained. “The mismatched strain has been the main circulating strain in other parts of the country, so time will tell if that will be the case here.”
Depending on the formulation, flu vaccines protect against three or four different flu viruses, Tait said. Even during a season when the vaccine is only partially protective against one flu virus, it can protect against the other viruses, which may become more common later in the season.
Whenever the county has a reportable flu case there are lab results done, and the typing of the virus – which can take time – will be good information for Lake County Public Health to have, Tait said.
“We will definitely be evaluating the overall impact of vaccination on this flu season compared to other seasons with better vaccine matches,” she said.
Tait said Lake County Public Health has enough of a vaccine supply for people who want to get the flu shot this year.
Officials also urge community members to practice good hand washing and other good health habits to stop the spread of germs.
Those habits include staying home and limiting contact with others when sick; covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing; washing hands thoroughly with soap and water, or using an alcohol-based rub; and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
Lake County Public is offering low-cost immunizations on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m., excluding holidays. Call Lake County Public Health at 707-263-1090 or 800-793-9291 for more information.
For more information about influenza, visit www.flu.gov .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
County health officer: No uptick in flu cases so far this season
- Elizabeth Larson
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