Nasty Cold and Flu Season! lol

This is from one news source (Massachusettes area) :

Flu season's upon us and it's only going to get worse

By JENNIFER KEEFE
jkeefe@fosters.com
Article Date: Friday, March 7, 2008

DOVER — If you or someone you know soon ends up with the flu, don't be surprised.

Area hospitals are reporting a sharp increase in flu cases as of late, and officials are pointing to a new strain and a delayed flu season as the reasons why.

"This flu season started later," said Jackie Dockham, infection control manager at Exeter Hospital. "It's still climbing. We haven't seen our peak yet."

And if a delayed flu season peak isn't daunting enough for people, this year's strain of the flu isn't proving to be affected by the flu shot, according to hospital officials.

"This year's flu vaccine doesn't quite line up with the strains of the flu that are going around," Dockham said.

Over at Maine's York Hospital, Director of Emergency Care Tony Bock agreed this year's strain of the flu isn't proving to be very sensitive to the flu vaccine, but officials from York and other hospitals are still highly recommending the flu shot for everyone.

"It can make the flu symptoms less severe," Dockham said, adding the shot can also reduce the amount of time people are sick with the flu. "The Department of Health really recommends the vaccine."

With the flu strain hospitals are seeing, an individual may be sick for up to 14 days, according to Dawn Fernald, marketing and public relations spokeswoman at York Hospital.

And hospitals are witnessing the increase of flu cases as people come in on a daily basis reporting flu symptoms.

"There was a dramatic spike in late January, early February," said Fernald.

Noreen Biehl, vice president of Community Relations at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, said the hospital is "very busy" with flu and pneumonia cases.

"We're seeing more patients per day than we saw last year at this time," Biehl said. "We know other hospitals in the area are experiencing the same thing, as well."

Portsmouth Regional Hospital Infection Control Practitioner Martha Wassell said the hospital is, indeed, also seeing an increase in flu cases but they "are not overrun."

"We have seen an increase with flu or flu-like symptoms, but we have plans in place to make sure we have what we need for our patients," Wassell said. "We never know when to expect (a spike in flu cases), but we expected a seasonal increase, which we have now."

Wassell said in February, 22 percent of 200 flu tests taken on patients were positive for the flu.

Although the number of cases are higher than last year at this time, hospital officials said the severity of the cases isn't on the rise.

"The cases are definitely more on the outpatient side," said Fernald. Only a few hospitals reported hospitalizing patients for the flu or flu-related symptoms, and Wassell said it is the young and elderly that are more heavily burdened, as with any infectious disease.

Some hospitals, like Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, report they aren't experiencing over-the-top numbers of flu cases.

"We have seen some cases, but we seem to be right in-line with others (hospitals) in the Seacoast," said Cindy Cunningham, director of infection prevention. "We had a low year last year so there are more cases this year."

Dockham also said last year's flu season was milder, but despite the spike this year, Exeter Hospital has "done fine" getting through the season thus far.

"We certainly are seeing our fair share of people coming in with influenza-type symptoms, but it doesn't always turn out to be the flu," Dockham said.

Wassell and other hospital officials recommend getting the vaccine, which is still readily available, and using common-sense techniques to prevent spreading disease, such as covering coughs and washing hands frequently.

"We have no reason to believe (this flu season) is going to get worse," said state Epidemiologist Jose Montero. "There is no such thing as a regular flu season."

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and this is from another (Wisconsin) :

Flu season turns the corner
By KAWANZA NEWSON
knewson@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 4, 2008

Flu cases in Milwaukee have hit a plateau and are at or near a peak level around the state, health officials said Tuesday.
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"We're just over the hump," said Paul Biedrzycki, director of disease control and environmental health for the Milwaukee Health Department.

Wisconsin's flu season typically starts in late November or early December, peaks in January or early February and ends in March.

This season started at the usual time, with the first case reported in an adult from Washington County in November. However, the vaccine used this year was not as predictable.

Flu samples tested by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the dominant strain circulating this season is H3N2 and that the majority of the circulating strains are not covered by this year's vaccine.

Historically, H3N2 viruses are typically associated with more severe influenza illness.

Since Sept. 30, CDC has received 24 reports of influenza-associated pediatric deaths. Among those is a 1-month-old Milwaukee boy who died in late January, becoming the city's first pediatric flu death since it began tracking them during the 2004-'05 flu season.