Posted on 12/13/2003 1:01:22 PM PST by CathyRyan
The vaccine has Panama for the fourth year in a row, which won't do much for Fujian. This year's vaccine is just to let everyone think they are doing something constructive.
Fujian left its calling card last season and as expected, it has returned with a vengeance and the vaccine will do little.
Might be a different strain than what I'm seeing in Oklahoma.
We are seeing a lot of sick kids and young folks, but none of our elders or diabetics (who got the flu shot early) have come down with it...there is a bad chest cold going around, so some of our older patients who smoke or have asthma are wheezing and quite sick, but no GI symptoms or body aches and pains like the flu...
Nationwide Fujian / Panama ratios are about 3/1. I think it was 50/50 in Oklahoma. The season is still pretty early. When Fujian arrives, you will know it. Many of the fatalities had been immunized.
If it were Fujian could that give us some immunity to that particular strain, as opposed to people who have never been exposed to it? Are you following me?
I know there is no real way to know, just curious.
Modesto Police Officer May Have Become Victim of Flu Outbreak Sue McGuire for KCBS-740 AM
(KCBS)--A Modesto Police officer, who had been suffering from flu type symptoms, died suddenly Saturday, apparently becoming the latest victim of the flu outbreak affecting California.
Modesto Police Detective Doug Ridenour says 32-year-old Officer Michael DuFour's family found him unconscious on the floor early Saturday morning. "The fire department got notified by the emergency response crews after they responded to a home here in Modesto that one of our officers, he had apparently collapsed and stopped breathing. They started CPR, the family did, but once the medical folks got there, they pronounced him dead a short time later at the house," said Ridenour.
DuFour had called in sick the past two days.
The Stanislaus County Coroner's office is conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
The number of deaths with suspected links to the flu outbreak have continued to climb in the state.
A 16-year-old boy who tested positive for the flu has died in a San Diego county hospital. Two other deaths in the county may also be related to the flu. County officials confirm a 56-year-old San Diego man died December 3rd of flu induced pneumonia and it's suspected in the death Tuesday of a 13-year-old girl. A seven-year-old Bakersfield boy died Sunday and an elderly San Luis Obispo resident died of the flu last week.
People concerned about the flu are crowding Bay Area emergency rooms but many of the cases involve people with the common cold that easily can be treated at home.
Amy Nichols, the infection control manager at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley says it's important to know the difference between a cold and flu because it could save your life. "It stays with you longer and there are other things that can occur in the wake of being infected with the influenza virus that can put you at risk for a more severe disease like pneumonia," she said.
Knowing the difference between the flu and the cold could also ease the burden placed on emergency rooms in the area.
Nichols says the flu is a respiratory infection that leaves victims with high fevers and low energy for more than a week. A cold does not last nearly as long and the fever isn't as bad. For people who have a fever for more than three days, they should seek medical care.
If you look at last year's CDC flu summary, you will see that 100 H3N2 were subtyped. 93 were Panama and 7 "had reduced titers". Those that had reduced titers were Fujian. Thus, Fujian was running at about 7%, but it came up late, so the percentage of later cases was higher.
Everything about Fujian was classic. It came up late in the season and was gaining strength. It also had mutations in key positions (matching sequences of pigs and ducks as well as human isolates from just after the 1968 Pandemic).
The science was a no-brainer. The early appearance and severity this season was NOT unexpected (to anyone paying attention). The vaccine wasn't working well and the virus was beginning to take off last season.
If you had Fujian last year you will be much better off you would be from getting a Panama flu shot this year.
Although Fujian did make at brief appearance at the end of last season, it is quite new, although it does have some of the mutations seen in human isolates after the 1968 pandemic (those born after 1968 should be paying attention).
There are some old flu stories that go back to 1918, but Fujian is quite new and there will be many more stories.
I don't think so. My mother has it and is sicker than she's ever been before. (This is a woman who's survived a LOT.) My daughter's best friend went into the hospital last week with a fever of 106. (No, that's not a typo... 106.) My MIL is a nurse and she's been introduced to her first case of this flu. For the first time in 25 years of nursing, she's very concerned. OTOH, I've seen folks in close contact with these cases who get sick, but no more than normal. I think it's hitting some people harder than usual this year.
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