CDC To Monitor Children's Flu Complications: Drug-Resistant Staph A New Wrinkle

SFgate ^ | 12-8-2003 | Daniel Yee

[Judith Anne]

I apologize for seeming lazy, I'm doing two things at once tonight, and one of them is FReeping...did the statistic you gave earlier, about the 80% Fujian strain, come from the CDC?

[suzyq5558]

Our whole family has been zapped .my son and eldery FIL havn't came down with it yet but i suspect they will.it went through the rest of us boom boom.we have asked our MIL if she isnt better by tommorrow that she needs to see her dr. she has congestive heart failure and she is always coughing and coughing but she really sounds bad.
I have asthma and when i came down with this i thought i was going to have to go to ER it really kicked the asthma into high gear but i take strong meds for it and that has really helped.
at first i thought we were just getting colds but we all started running fevers and having the headaches and chills,yuckkky,my daughter missed a week of school and my hubby was home from work for a week also. and were still all coughing and hacking.this stuff is awful.
im concerned more for my inlaws who are not in the greatest of health and they got the flu shot ,the rest of us did not and yet they still got this flu and pretty bad.
hope everyone stays well.

[joesnuffy]

unfortunately Vanco resistant strains are starting to pop up.

And I bet the most likely place to catch it...is in hosptial...nosocomial infection..

[torstars]

Yes, the 80% was my recollection of the CDC, Canada, and European data. Here are the fujian/panama numbers for Canada

[Judith Anne]

Thanks again.

[torstars]

they got the flu shot ,the rest of us did not and yet they still got this flu and pretty bad.

The cross reactivity data is mostly from animals and the current version of fujian-like flu has already drifted from last years A/fujian/411/2002 which I believe is what was used in the animal tests.

The next flu batch (for southern hemisphere) will probably use A/Wyoming/3/2003, which is from a Feb 2003 isolate, and the current version has already drifted from Wyoming also.

WHO is clearly playing "catch up", but may be accelerating mutations by using a vaccine that is only partially effective against Fujian (although 20-30% of H3N2 in the US is much closer to the Panama strain in the current vaccine).

[suzyq5558]

So in other words the vaccine may not be as affective?

[uncbob]

If the FLU is this bad it should be treated like they are treating SARS

Maybe close the schools where it is present

[Coroner]

bingo!!

[torstars]

The current vaccine uses A/Panama/2007/99 which was the prevalent strain in 1999, but Fujian is creating most of the current problems and the current vaccine is only partially effective against Fujian.

[suzyq5558]

AHA gotcha, so my MIL would have been a lot sicker then. well the rest of us have been feeling pretty darn crummy.

[blam]

"hope everyone stays well."

Sorry to hear about all the sickness, I hope everyone gets better soon. I would insist that your in-laws go to the doctor.

[suzyq5558]

Well thats kind of a stickler for us in dealing with my MIL.
dr's and nurses do not like her,she is the worst ,i kid you not. when she had her stroke she accused everyone from the poor nurses to the doc that they were all trying to kill her.
she complains non stop. the nurses cannot make her happy or comfortable,she had the congestive heart failure episode and accused the medic's at the house of trying to suffocate her and screamed all the way to the ER geesh it was terrible she yells at the nurses and everyone else .then she had to have a stent put in and lord what a nightmare for everyone ,my whole family boycotted her with that trip to the hospital.
when she had to go ER in california she accused the staff of treating her so badly they made her walk from three flights up all way down to the lobby cause they all hated her.which we all knew was not true for lords sake.
she is a most difficult person to deal with and really hates dr's even though they have saved her life several times,i do not understand. and yes she is a delusonal communist. i kid you not, she has told us plenty of times she is a socialist. and now she lives under our roof and has to keep a lot of things to herself and it just kills her that we do not see the world the way she does.
love her dearly but.........
so in conclusion it's very difficult to get her to the dr. office,but we will force her if she keeps coughing the way she has been.
im now done ranting. can you tell we have already tried earlier to get her to the dr.?

[blam]

"can you tell we have already tried earlier to get her to the dr.?"

Boy howdy. Do you know/like Jack Parr? (He always said, "I kid you not.")

[suzyq5558]

My dad is alway's saying "i kid you not" i guess i picked it from him. i feel silly but is Jack Parr an old movie star? im not up on movies really, although i do like old movies i dont pay a lot of attention to all the actors.
i now feel quite inadaquate lol

[suzyq5558]

testing</>

[blam]

Jack Parr was the first of the late night TV hosts. I believe it was johnny Carson that took over from him.

Jack Parr

"Television and radio pioneer Jack Paar has been called the most imitated personality in broadcasting. He virtually created the late-night talk show format as the host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, one of televisions longest running programs. Of him, the WASHINGTON POST said, "Jack Paar was genuine, and the footprints he left on the loony moonscape of television are enormous; they will be there forever."

[torstars]

Here is another report from the MA DOH website (which relies on CDC info):

"Influenza has been reported in all regions of the United States and has been widespread in 10 states (Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington) and regional in 9 states. Also, this year is earliest since the 1976-77 influenza season that the percentage of specimens testing positive has exceeded 10%. Of the isolates typed by CDC, 99% of isolates were identified as type A and 1 % identified as type B. Over 80% of the A (H3N2) viruses have been identified as the A/Fujian (H3N2) strain. This strain has been associated with the more severe cases and deaths in children reported in the western states. Because of the changes in the influenza virus, the current vaccine may be slightly less effective in preventing influenza caused by the A/Fujian (H3N2) strain. However, the influenza vaccine is the best tool we have and it is expected to be effective in preventing severe disease and complications from influenza. Every year, people at high risk for complications from influenza are strongly recommended to get their flu shot as soon as possible."

[torstars]

The sub-type may be dependent on when and where you catch the flu. It seems that the more severe cases in the West are Fujian, and the cases that are just beginning to show up in the east are Panama. However, it looks like the Fujian strain is spreading to the east.

This type of spread is not unexpected. The Fujian strain started in China last year and was widespread in New Zealand and Australia this summer (southern hemisphere's winter).

Now Fijian is starting in the western United States and working its way east. Here is a media report from the Cincinnati area (southern Indiana/Ohio and northern Kentucky). Flu in general is still relative weak, although still earlier than seen in recent years. Only a few isolates have been subtyped, and they are all Panama (which is covered in the current vaccine):

"In Colorado, more than 6,300 people have been infected and at least six have died. A few other deaths have been reported in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The big concern: a flu strain called type A/Fujian for which this year's vaccine offers only partial protection.

So far in the Tristate, the few cases that have gone all the way through testing have been type A/Panama, a strain that is covered by this year's vaccine. No cases of A/Fujian influenza have been reported to local public health officials.

Season starting early

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has reported 70 cases of influenza. Mercy Anderson treated 26 adults and six children with flu symptoms over the weekend. Smaller numbers of cases have been seen at other Mercy hospitals, according to Mercy Health Partners spokeswoman Karen Kuhn. Several cases also have been reported at Bethesda North, said TriHealth spokesman Joe Kelley.

Ohio and Kentucky remain listed among 13 states with "sporadic" flu activity. Indiana is among 16 states with "regional" flu activity, according to the CDC. That means flu season is starting somewhat early this year. In Greater Cincinnati, cases usually peak in January and February and can continue into April. "

[torstars]

From today's Chicago Tribune:

"Some doctors in California, Texas and Colorado say they have been overwhelmed by the severity of flu in children this year. On one day last week, Children's Medical Center in Dallas reported two dozen children with flu symptoms, most severe enough to need ventilators."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0312090138dec09,1,4626524.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed