Dr. Paul Effler, state epidemiologist, today said the state is seeing more cases of flu. However, he said the flu is still less prevalent this year than it was here late in the flu season last year.

"I do not think that there is any reason to panic at this time," Effler said. "A reasonable concern is appropriate."

On the Neighbor Islands, some clinics have run out of supplies.

Supplies at Kaiser Permanente clinics on Maui were fine until a media report yesterday triggered "a human surge," said Kaiser spokeswoman Jan Kagehiro.

And nurses at a Maui Community College clinic for students and the community say they have run out of adult shots but do have some left for children.

Kaiser officials on O'ahu late yesterday flew additional doses to Maui, Kagehiro said. She did not know how much was sent and no other clinics are reporting problems.

Kaiser pharmacists, however, called the three wholesalers that bring the vaccine to Hawai'i and were told no more vaccine was available, Kagehiro said.

Straub Clinic & Hospital has fewer doses of the pediatric vaccine, but plenty for adults, said spokeswoman Claire Tong.

At the hospital’s Doctors on Call clinic in Waikiki, several thousand adult doses were available at the start of the week. But Tong did not know how many remained today.

Effler said there are no deaths reported in Hawai'i this year despite the somewhat increased levels of flu cases reported.

He said 36,000 deaths are reported nationwide each year related to the flu. This year, Hawai'i has seen few confirmed cases.

As of yesterday’s update, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described Hawai'i’s flu activity as sporadic, one of only five states in the nation to report so few cases. The others are Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin as well as Guam.

The CDC is recommending the vaccine now available be given as a priority to those in high-risk groups: the elderly, over 65; infants ages 6 months to 23 months; people who suffer from chronic illnesses; and pregnant women.

Effler said most of the public is generally healthy and will find the flu unpleasant but survive without serious consequences.