Georgia leads the nation for flu, CDC says

By Carrie Teegardin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia is the first state in the nation to experience significant seasonal flu activity this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

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Brant Sanderlin bsanderlin@ajc.com Public health officials said the onset of the flu season offers yet another incentive to get a flu vaccine, which is recommended this year for everyone over 6 months old.

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The cases are concentrated in the metro Atlanta area but also are popping up in other parts of the state. School-age children are being hit hardest, the CDC said.

Public health officials said the onset of the flu season offers yet another incentive to get a flu vaccine, which is recommended this year for everyone over 6 months old.

One Georgia resident, a 63-year-old woman from the Atlanta area, died as a result of the flu last month, according to Georgia public health officials.

"Flu is definitely here," said Dr. Cherie Drenzek, director of acute disease epidemiology at the state public health office.

The state does not estimate the number of flu cases.

By this time last year, the nation had already been hit hard by the H1N1 pandemic. While H1N1 is present this year, another strain of the flu is more dominant, health officials said.

"This is a much more typical flu year," Drenzek said.

This year's influenza vaccine protects people from three strains of the flu -- including H1N1.

"It's really a good time to get vaccinated if you haven't already done so," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Drenzek said public health officials monitor flu levels by taking reports from 77 health care providers around the state who report the percentage of their patients who come in with symptoms of fever, cough or a sore throat. Those doctors also submit specimens for testing from some of these patients to determine whether flu is indeed present and to establish what strains are prevalent during the flu season, she said.

"Georgia is seeing a much higher percentage of viruses positive for flu than we're seeing at the national level," Schuchat said.

Public health officials can't explain why the flu season appears to be getting its start in Georgia.

"The one thing we know about flu is it's totally unpredictable," said Jeff Dimond, a CDC spokesman. "It's got to start somewhere. Sometimes it starts out West, sometimes it starts up North."