The flu has officially reached an epidemic threshold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 15 children have died from flu-related deaths across the country, according to the CDC. A 3-year-old child in Georgia has recently died from flu-related complications, according to latest flu report released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Public Health. In Georgia, there have been of 12 flu-related deaths this year since Oct. 1. Most of the deaths involved adults 65 and older. Last year at this time, there were 8 flu-associated deaths in Georgia.
The flu season is in full swing with the flu widespread in Georgia and much of the country. State data suggest flu season may have peaked earlier this year than last.
State health department spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said at this time last year, flu activity was low and intensity was 4 (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest). This year flu activity is widespread and intensity is 10 – and has been for the past 2-3 weeks. There have been 459 people hospitalized this year in for flu-related illness in metro Atlanta area. (Last year, there were 296 hospitalizations in metro Atlanta during this same time period.)
One reason for the bad flu season is this year’s vaccine is not considered as effective. The dominant flu strain this year — H3N2 — has mutated, and only about half of the cases match the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Flu viruses are constantly changing and they mutate all the time — from one season to the next or they can even change within the course of the same season. This kind of gradual change is called “drifting.”
The CDC said flu shots may still offer some protection against drifted viruses, which could help lessen the severity of the symptoms and reduce the risk of complications, such as hospitalization and death. Flu shots also will still protect against flu strains that have not mutated, such as the influenza A (H1N1) virus and the B viruses contained in the vaccine.
Since experts must pick which viruses to include in the vaccine several months in advance to produce and deliver the vaccine for the upcoming flu season, there’s always this risk that the circulating viruses will deviate from the ones used for the vaccine. There’s not enough time to change the vaccine for this flu season.
In past years, H3N2 strains have tended to be more severe, sending more people to the hospital than other strains — and causing more deaths, especially among the elderly, children and people with weakened immune systems.
The flu usually takes the highest toll on the very young and the very old.
Depending on the season, the flu claims the lives of anywhere between 3,000 and 49,000 people a year in the United States.
Even when some circulating viruses are different from the vaccine viruses, the CDC continues to strongly recommend vaccination against the flu. While the vaccine may be less effective against drifted viruses, it can still protect many people and prevent flu-related complications. Facing a nasty flu season, getting a vaccine that provides even partial protection may be more important than ever, according to the CDC.
The CDC is also urging people with flulike symptoms to seek treatment as soon as possible. Tamiflu and Relenza, a class of drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors, are designed to block replication of the flu virus in the body.
They work best when taken within a day or two of getting sick, and experts say these antiviral medications seem to be particularly effective with this year’s virus circulating.
With a severe flu season and less-effective vaccine, Nydam said it’s key to rely on the basics, including:
- Wash your hands.
- Cover your cough.
- Stay home from work or school whenever you think you might be sick.
- Get a flu shot.
“It’s still very important to tell people it is not too late to get a flu shot,” she said. “Typically, flu doesn’t peak until the end of January or first of February, and often circulates into late March or longer. It takes a couple of weeks for the flu vaccine to be fully effective, so there is still plenty of time to be immunized and be protected.”
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