Maine flu deaths rise to 21 so far this season

According to the state Department for Public Health, state-wide, two children have died in the past few weeks.

Tennessee’s State Health Department says numbers in the Volunteer State have not changed. Under the contingency plan, 37 percent or more than 13,000 CDC staff would be retained. The data is ongoing.

The flu season, which began October 1, has exploded over the last month in the Golden State, and is on track to being the worst in 10 years.

People can spread the flu virus one day before they start to show symptoms, so you might interact with someone who is infected and not know it.

“We usually see the first influenza cases about November 1 around here, so we seem to be getting a late start this year”, said Roger Drahota, infection preventionist at Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont. “To find a year that’s higher than this, you have to go back to 2003/2004” when 7.6 percent of doctor visits were attributed to the flu, Brammer said. New York City, Puerto Rico, and 32 states experienced high ILI activity; nine states experienced moderate ILI activity; and the District of Columbia and six states (Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, and Washington) experienced low ILI activity. But Influenza A and B are deadly.

Another reason we’re having trouble with this year’s flu is that, according to National Geographic, the flu vaccine mutated while being prepared in laboratories, rendering it a little less useful than other years.

A flu vaccine injection is administered.

“H3N2 is a strain that’s most capable of outsmarting us”, she said.

Sometimes we get affected with flu or viral symptoms, this happens because our immune system is weak. “This is complicated by the holidays, when people are getting together and spreading the flu around”.

Of course, the CDC is in charge of many more public health initiatives beyond monitoring flu cases.

The most common flu vaccine protects against three common strains of influenza, and there’s plenty in supply for anyone still looking to get vaccinated.

Adriana Gudinoperez, a patient with flu symptoms, looks up after being given ibuprofen in the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange.

In a bad season, there as many as 56,000 deaths connected to the flu.

“Watch for signs that it is developing into something more serious”, she said.

The state tracks flu deaths only among those younger than 65, because health officials say it’s a more accurate measure of the severity of a flu season.

Across the province a total of 6,320 people have had confirmed flu and 1,814 admitted to hospital. Even if most of the symptoms have gone, those who have had the flu will tend to feel exhausted for much longer.

The basic treatment for flu is rest and intake of fluid, sometimes paracetamol will also help if there is presence of fever.

Health officials also urged people to continue to practice good hygiene such as hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, not touching the eyes, nose, or mouth, and staying home if sick.

The study, led by the University of Maryland, said just breathing could spread the flu virus – coughing and sneezing not required.