Flu Season

The flu this year is quite obviously a plot and a conspiracy. Evidence? What is it called? Hong Kong flu, right? What happened to Hong Kong this past year? The communists took over! Ah, ha. Clearly, it is a communist plot to take over the U.S. With up to 75% of the population feeling like they were either run over by a truck or hit by a nuclear attack, it's working! DAVE BECKWITH Irvine

San Diego County has had more influenza-related deaths this flu season than in any other on record, the county Health and Human Services reported Wednesday. Sixty people in the county have died of complications related to the flu, surpassing the total of 58 during the 2009-10 pandemic, health officials said. Of the 60, all but one had underlying medical conditions. The elderly were the most vulnerable; the oldest victim was 99. Although flu season, considered to be from October to early April, occurs annually, this year's strain, influenza A H3N2, is considered one of the most severe on record, officials said.

The flu season has gotten off to its quickest start in nearly a decade, a sign that it could be a bad year for the illness, officials said on Monday. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged people to get a flu shot to minimize the impact of the deadly disease's spread. Speaking to publicize National Influenza Vaccination Week, Frieden said a flu shot was the best tool available to stop the spread of the disease, along with covering your mouth when coughing and washing your hands.

This season's outbreak of flu continues to be high -- especially among the elderly and the young -- but appears to be waning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. Flu-like illnesses appeared to be falling in the East but rising in the Western states. Forty-five children have died, the CDC reported . This year's flu season began earlier and appeared harsher than in past years. For the week ending Jan. 26, the CDC said, 42 states reported widespread geographic influenza activity while seven reported regional activity.

As influenza season continues, here's a quick word of advice: If you're sick, do everyone a favor and take a sick day. Don't be the trouper who comes into work hacking and feverish, because it's likely to expose more people to the contagion. Sounds like common sense, in theory. But in truth, taking off work when sick, even for a bug as unforgiving as the flu, is hard to do in practice. Even doctors, ironically, have trouble with it. A study in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health found that up to 80% of physicians surveyed said they had "worked during an illness for which they would have sick-listed their patients.

The flu season in California this winter is turning out to be one of the mildest in recent years. The number of severe influenza cases resulting in deaths in children is also down. There have been three pediatric influenza-associated deaths so far this winter, with deaths reported in Riverside, Fresno and Alameda counties; in the same time period last winter, there were five pediatric deaths associated with influenza.

From November through March each year, various strains of influenza afflict thousands of people in Los Angeles County. Flus to expect this year include the Taiwan, Shanghai and Yamagata strains. Doctors recommend vaccinations for the elderly and those who are vulnerable to the flu. For information on clinics with free shots through Dec. 15, call the county Health Line at (213) 250-8055 or the county Department of Senior Citizens Affairs at (213) 857-6466 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.

Advice on how to stay healthy is everywhere, but good advice is harder to find. Here are some stories that can help. Flu season isn't just about getting a flu shot. The Allentown Morning Call reports on three sure-fire "upgrades" in personal hygiene habits that can guard against infectious germs in "Protect against cold and flu. " Going on vacation or business travel shouldn't mean scrapping your daily workout. The Baltimore Sun blog Exercists discusses the benefits of taking your routine on the road in "Exercising on vacation" (hint: a change of scenery is a good thing, exercise-wise)

Health officials are expressing concerns about California's preparedness for the upcoming flu season, in which an already strained healthcare system will have to cope with seasonal influenza as well as the swine flu. The California Department of Public Health on Thursday warned that as many as one in four Californians may be sickened this year by swine flu, officially known as the H1N1 strain. Officials are racing to prepare for what is expected to be a large increase in the number of people seeking flu shots because of growing public unease about the swine flu. Interviews with hospital officials this week indicate that medical facilities, doctor's offices and pharmacies still have a way to go to be ready, particularly if this year's flu season is severe.

An early outbreak threatens to makes this year's influenza season one of the most difficult in recent years as public health officials brace for the worst. Hospitals in the Northeast, from New Jersey to Massachusetts, are reporting record numbers of emergency room visits related to flu-like illnesses, and Boston has declared a public health emergency. At least 41 states have reported widespread flu outbreaks, more than 2,250 people have been hospitalized and 18 children have died, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Re "Flu's sticking point," Jan. 19 I read your article with great interest, looking forward to my fellow nurses explaining how important it is for people - healthcare workers in particular - to get their yearly flu shot. Instead, I learned that the very people responsible for educating their patients were themselves believers of false science. One nurse who tells postpartum mothers to get the flu shot for their newborns and themselves refused to get vaccinated herself. It surely wouldn't encourage me to vaccinate.

My mother was cleaning out some drawers and found a family letter written from “somewhere in France ” in 1918. Addressed “Dear Folks,” Russell C. Jones, a farm boy from Nebraska, writes home. The war is over, he guesses, as the Armistice has just been signed. “I hope I get home in time to help with the spring work,” he writes, “but a fellow can't tell when he will get back.” True today, too, sadly. I'm struck by his lovely, careful handwriting. It's brown ink, or has it faded?

Boozy ice cream for when you have the flu? Ohio-based small-batch ice cream maker Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is making the news this flu season with one of its most popular winter flavors -- Influenza Sorbet, made with honey, ginger, orange and lemon juices, Maker's Mark bourbon and cayenne pepper.  Influenza Sorbet is no flu cure, but owner Jeni Britton Bauer told ABC News that the ice cream flavor inspired by a drink her grandmother made...

 Among the long list of reasons the fearful give for reasons they're not getting a flu shot (hatred of needles, skepticism about vaccines, laziness), there's one that relates more closely to economics: cost. For while doctors urge everyone to get a flu shot, flu shots, like many other things in life, are not free. Stop by your local CVS or Walgreens and you'll shell out $30 or so for the pleasure of getting poked by a needle behind a suggestion of a curtain. So why aren't flu shots free, or nearly free?

As a nurse at a Downey hospital, Darlene Andres spends her days caring for postpartum mothers and their newborn babies. Andres urges new moms to get the flu vaccine before leaving. But Andres, 36, decided not to get the flu shot herself. Andres - a self-proclaimed "germ freak" - said she just washes her hands instead. "I heard from a lot of co-workers on the floors that they were getting a lot of symptoms after getting the flu vaccine," she said. "I kind of got scared. " On Friday, public health officials warned that the flu wreaking havoc elsewhere has finally arrived in California and is now causing widespread hospitalizations across the state.

Finally ready for a flu shot? First of all, what took you so darn long? Second, you might need a little patience. CVS Caremark and Rite Aid say they're running out of flu vaccines in some states as the unusually severe flu season drives up demand. In California, at least, it still looks like there's plenty of vaccine to go around. Forty-seven states are now experiencing widespread flu. That has resulted in more people making a beeline to pharmacies and doctors' offices in search of a cure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has unveiled its analysis of the just-ended flu season, plus its likely strategy for the upcoming flu season. In short: Expect the same plan as last year, folks. The Food and Drug Administration has recommended that the upcoming vaccine against seasonal flu protect against the same three strains as last season's formulation: H1N1 (a type of influenza A), H3N2 (another type of influenza A) and an influenza B, the CDC said in its annual flu season summary and look ahead.

It's the latest start for a flu season in 29 years, and thus far, severe cases have been few. But that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have dodged any seasonal illness bullets. Influenza is just beginning to gain a foothold around the country.  "The flu season has officially begun," Dr. Joseph Bresee told reporters Friday morning during a briefing at the agency's headquarters in Atlanta. Infections have reached all 50 states, said Bresee, who is chief of the epidemiology prevention branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's influenza division.

With flu season likely to ramp up in Los Angeles in coming weeks, health officials and family doctors are trying to get out the word: There are some things you can do to avoid coming down with this year's flu. First, get your immunizations - it's not too late. This year's flu shot protects against three flu strains: two influenza A's (an H1N1, an H3N2) and one influenza B.  These three strains have predominated among infections this year, so it's as good a preventive vaccine as can be expected.

New York's governor declared a state health emergency Saturday because of a flu epidemic that has sickened more than 19,000 people, giving pharmacists the right to immunize infants and children in hopes of curbing the spread of the potentially lethal virus. Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive order, pharmacists for at least the next 30 days will be able to give flu shots to children as young as 6 months, a break from state law that usually limits them to immunizing those 18 years and older.