More Flu Cases This Year Compared To Last

Health officials said that 32 people under 65 died from flu in the last seven days, making it the deadliest week of the season so far.

The State Department of Health says it has never seen this many flu out breaks this early in the flu season. In Maine, the only place where the flu doesn’t yet appear to be a problem is the middle of Baxter State Park and maybe the Allagash.

Liz Sharlot, the director of communications with the Department of Health, said that cases of the flu are widespread in MS, covering each area. Additionally, the shot may secure against flu B strains, which normally turn out later in the season. More people are seeing doctors for flu or flu related symptoms than normal in every region the CDC monitors.

A vaccine usually supplies the H and N proteins without the potentially risky virus.

Professor Paul Cosford, PHE medical director, said: “Our data continues to show that more people are visiting Global Positioning System with flu symptoms and we are seeing more people admitted to hospital with flu”. The new virus caused the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years. “While the vaccine is less effective against H3N2, it works well against other flu strains that are circulating”.

A way to prevent illness this season is a flu shot. According to the CDC, anti-viral drugs to treat the flu are proving effective this year. Despite a wide body of evidence about the safety of flu vaccines for women and their babies, misinformation about thimerosal, an ethyl-mercury-based preservative used in multidose vials to safeguard against contamination of the vial, still circulates on the internet, despite multiple studies that demonstrate no evidence of harm. Those with medical conditions such as asthma, chronic lung or heart disease, diabetes and obesity are also at risk for flu complications, including pneumonia. And though the vaccine doesn’t necessarily offer full protection, it can lessen the severity in people who do end up getting sick with the flu. In less than one year, the Spanish flu claimed the lives of about 50 million people, four times more than those lost during World War 1. Dr. Levine recommends that older Vermonters contact their doctor as soon as they suspect they may have the flu. Vega stresses the best way to prevent the flu is by getting the flu vaccine.

As January began, some states in the north are seeing minimal flu levels, but the entire west coast, much of the Midwest and most of the South are struggling with high infection rates.