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Flu season mild in Southeast Texas despite online reports(Beaumont Enterprise, The (Texas) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 12--At least one organization has rated this year's flu season as "high" for Southeast Texas. The Web site FluSTAR, an influenza surveillance network sponsored by pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., has identified southern areas of Texas as experiencing high rates of flu. "The FluSTAR system has confirmed an outbreak of influenza in your area," reads the Web site. "Flu is widespread and having a significant impact on your community. This stage usually lasts from six to eight weeks. Influenza activity is presently greater than 60 percent of peak levels from prior seasons." The FluSTAR system gathers information from surveillance methods including laboratory confirmation and clinical diagnosis data. Not everyone has had the tissues in hand, however. "We haven't had to deal with it at all," said Cherese Braquet, 32, of Groves. "I haven't seen one person with it." Annual flu vaccinations might have something to do with that. Braquet, a student at Lamar Institute of Technology, said she and her four children get flew shots each year. Her husband did not get one this year. Google, which compares query counts with data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help gauge flu trends, rated Texas as "moderate" for flu activity. Earlier last week, the Jefferson County Health Department reported low numbers of patients complaining of flu-like illnesses. Emmery Dennis, a 49-year-old nurse from Silsbee, said she's seen few people in her circle of friends and family with the flu. "I see it more in the older people, but the young, no," she said by phone. She said the large amount of people getting the flu shot might have something to do with that. "Just because it is already flu season does not mean that people cannot still get flu shots," said Cindy Powers, director of infection control at both Christus St. Elizabeth and Christus St. Mary Hospitals. "People should stay away from those who are sick and showing flu symptoms, keep their hands clean and keep their hands away from their face." Powers said that between the emergency rooms and the minor care facility they have seen an increase in flu cases ranging from 19 to 28 per day, but this is to be expected at this time of year. The Enterprise tried to reach Dr. Cecil Walkes, the county health authority, for comment but he didn't return any calls. Area hospitals also have not seen any emergence of the H1N1 mutated flu strain in the Jefferson County area, although some children in Houston have been diagnosed with it, according to a recent report in the Houston Chronicle. According to the report, H1N1 has become resistant to the drug Tamiflu, the leading antiviral medication. The strain is not resistant to Relenza, but Relenza is not deemed safe for children under the age of 7. The CDC recently issued an advisory recommending that doctors treat children with H1N1 with a combination of Tamiflu and an older drug, Flumadine, to which the strain is not resistant. And, while this strain has not reared its head in Jefferson County to this point according to CDC reports, health officials said that people still should take precautions. "No local resistance has been identified," Powers said in reference to H1N1. "The Center for Disease Control has not identified any cases of that in this area like they have in Houston but the numbers (of people) are greater there." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention don't track influenza the same way they do communicable diseases like anthrax, rabies, cholera or sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, said spokeswoman Shelly Diaz. However, although the illness is not reportable, the CDC still keeps tabs on it. The agency's Web site features weekly flu reports based on data from sources such as the U.S. World Health Organization and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System. The most recent report indicated a rise in flu activity nationwide during the week of Dec. 21-27, with "proportion of deaths €¦ below the epidemic threshold." The CDC does not forecast the severity of flu season. "There's really no way to predict how a flu season's going to go," Diaz said. Of the 5 to 20 percent of Americans who develop influenza yearly, an estimated 36,000 die of it, according to the CDC. "Just remind people to get their flu shots and wash their hands -- just like their mom told them," Diaz said. To see more of The Beaumont Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.www.beaumontenterprise.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |