Flu 'sporadic' in Hawai'i; doctors say shots in high demand
By Robbie Dingeman and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers
While health officials here see an increase in the number of flulike illnesses being reported this month, Hawai'i remains one of the least affected states nationwide, with only 25 confirmed cases of flu thus far.
State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Effler said the seasonal sickness has caused a surge in people seeking flu shots, with the demand for vaccine exceeding supply nationwide and even in Hawai'i. However, he said the flu is still less prevalent this season than it was here at the peak of the past flu season, which ended early this year.
"I do not think that there is any reason to panic at this time," Effler said. "A reasonable concern is appropriate."
No flu-related deaths have been reported in Hawai'i this season, Effler said. The state typically experiences several hundred a year, while nationwide there are about 36,000 flu-related deaths a year.
There has been an increase recently in the number of cases of flu and influenzalike illnesses reported by doctors' offices, or about 5 percent of patients, Effler said yesterday. That compares to about 9 percent of patients reporting symptoms at the peak of the past flu season.
However, Hawai'i's flu season typically peaks after the holidays.
As of this week's update, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described Hawai'i's flu activity as sporadic, one of only six states and U.S. territories to report so few cases. The others are Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Guam.
Nationally, the number of states with widespread infections has nearly doubled to 24 in the past week, and the season has not yet peaked, the CDC said Thursday. At least 20 children have died nationwide during this outbreak.
The CDC recommends that the vaccine now available be given as a priority to those in high-risk groups: those 65 and older; infants ages 6 months to 23 months; people who suffer from chronic illnesses, including diabetes, asthma and heart disease; and pregnant women after their first trimester.
Effler said many of those in the high-risk groups have already received the vaccine or had an opportunity to get it when the flu shot season began in October.
Most of the public is healthy and will survive without serious consequences, Effler said.
He encouraged people to follow common-sense precautions to avoid the spread of any respiratory illness: "Wash your hands (and) stay home from work and from social activities when you're ill."
Effler said he knows that advice is routinely ignored by many people in our "workaholic culture" but said the practice could help slow the spread of flu and other respiratory diseases.
On the Neighbor Islands, some clinics ran out of vaccine, but Effler said supplies are still available on all islands.
Supplies at Kaiser Permanente clinics on Maui were fine until a media report this week triggered a run on the vaccine, Kaiser spokeswoman Jan Kagehiro said.
Kaiser is encouraging members in the high-risk categories on all islands to get their vaccinations soon. "We still have supplies of flu vaccine at all our clinics available for members only."
Kagehiro said the organization assesses the supply daily. "We continue to see more people coming in as a result of the publicity this has gotten on the Mainland as well as here."
ISI Health Enhancement Services, an HMSA subsidiary, has given about 30,000 flu shots this year, about double what it handled last year, manager Lloyd Kishi said.
Kishi said that total includes community clinics such as those it ran at Longs Drugs statewide, as well as employer-sponsored shots. The company expects several hundred people will turn out for a clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Ward Warehouse.
Doctors at Straub Clinic & Hospital plan to limit adults who want a flu shot to those in high-risk categories, said spokeswoman Claire Tong. The hospital is low on both adult and pediatric doses.
The hospital's Doctors on Call clinic in Waikiki still has sufficient supplies, she said.
Dr. Robert Sussman, medical director for The Medical Corner, which operates urgent-care clinics in Kailua, Kapolei, the airport and Waikiki, said demand for flu shots was up earlier this season even before the recent publicity about deaths on the Mainland.
He said normally the clinics stock enough vaccine to last until June. This year, he expects to run out in a few days but feels that many high-risk patients got their shots already. "There's this flu-shot frenzy," Sussman said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Robbie Dingeman at 535-2429 or rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com. Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.
