Flu season strikes early and, in some places, hard

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) - From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients.

Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.

While flu normally doesn't blanket the country until late January or February, it is already widespread in more than 40 states, with about 30 of them reporting some major hot spots. On Thursday, health officials blamed the flu for the deaths of 20 children so far.

Whether this will be considered a bad season by the time it has run its course in the spring remains to be seen.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130110/DA3NKI882.html

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Damien Dancy puts masks on his children Damaya, 3, left, and Damien, 7, on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, Va. Hospitals in Hampton Roads are urging patients and visitors to wear a mask at their facilities to help stop the spread of the flu. The recommendation was issued Wednesday by more than two dozen medical centers. In a joint statement, the hospitals said the recommendation applies to hospitals, urgent care centers and branch clinics, among others. (AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Stephen M. Katz)

[krispos42]

1. I'm one of them

So is my kid, my parents, and my girlfriend.

My entire body ached from coughing and incredible amounts of sneezing.

[ReRe]

4. If I was you...

...I'd be dead. So sorry that you and your family has fallen ill with this illness from Hell.
Get well soon!

[krispos42]

5. We've had worse.

At least it's not the stomach flu! We're varying shades of miserable, but at least we're not rushing to the bathroom every 5 minutes.


Thanks.

[ReRe]

6. Oh...I totally agree...

I had one of those stomach flus one time when my son came home from school with it. I was 8 months pregnant and they threw my butt in the hospital pronto. Only stayed a couple days and was on home for another dreary difficult last month of pregnancy. Again, I hope everyone continues to get well.

[lexw]

9. Isn't what folks call a "stomach flu" just food poisoning or bacteria?

I don't think it has anything to do the influenza. Either way, I agree: it sux!

[ReRe]

10. It wasn't food poisoning...

...it was an actual highly contagious viral stomach flu. I didn't get it until several days later, after caring for my son. I contracted it from him. Half of the kids at school were out with it, and many of their parents came down with it too. I've never been that kind of sick again. It definitely sucks.

[David__77]

2. Had my first ever flu shot in October.

I hope it does the job. I got sick a couple days after the flu shot. Some people claim that that sort of thing is associated. Who knows?

[Lugnut]

7. I got my first one in November.

So far so good. I didn't get sick and I hope it stays that way. A friend of mine got the flu shot but got the flu anyway. He spent a night in the hospital with it so it's no joke.

[question everything]

3. Why "early?"

What is "normal" time for flu to start hitting?

Glad we got our flu shots a couple of months ago. Hope it will keep it at bay.

[du_grad]

8. Lots of information on the CDC website

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/index.htm

[watoos]

11. Why should I believe the CDC?

Hurry get the shot, even though no studies have been done to prove its effectiveness.
Wash your hands frequently and don't touch your face are better advice than getting something pumped into you that isn't proven. Never get the nasal flu prevention.

[leftynyc]

12. How about thanking the poster

for providing a link to the information you asked for? That you don't like the source is irrelevant. Your very bad newbie manners are relevant.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

15. I think you took a wrong turn.

The Alex Jones site is that way =====>


I hear they're have a good discussion on chem trails and fluoride today.

[du_grad]

18. You don't have to believe anything

...that you don't want to. Inoculations for disease go way back to the 1800's, when Edward Jenner discovered the vaccination for smallpox. People were skeptical back then also.

http://www.scienceheroes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=240&Itemid=216

Most of us have come a long way since then...

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. the Norovirus is the bad stomach stuff.

I don't think they call it flu.

That is what goes thru and makes everyone sick on cruise ships, in nursing homes - places where people are kind of stuck close to each other.

[Yo_Mama]

16. Some flus also infect the gastric tract

Type Bs are more likely to do so. However any strain of flu more often causes stomach problems in kids, and if you run a high fever long enough, you often will have gastric problems.

Norwalk (norovirus) is not flu but it is a highly contagious viral illness that causes the acute gastric problem.

RSV is also circulating.

Of course, there are always those lucky individuals who get multiple strains of flu at the same time, or another viral infection and the flu. They can get really sick.

[PADemD]

14. Flu Vaccination

What strains of influenza does this year’s seasonal flu vaccination protect against?

The standard flu vaccine protects against three strains: two types of flu A (H1 and H3) and one type of flu B. The main strain causing disease this year is H3 and we have evidence from laboratory evaluations that the vaccine covers this year’s strain of H3. So we can expect that people who are vaccinated will be protected to at least the 75% level.

http://theconversation.edu.au/explainer-flu-season-2012-8210

Does the 75% level mean that one in four who receive the flu vaccination will still get the flu?

[Yo_Mama]

17. Yes, but locally it is not anywhere near that effective.

Locally, the outbreak is emphatically not covered by this year's flu shot. Hopefully that's not true everywhere.