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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, March 10, 2005

Hawai'i hit by late-season flu

 •  Doctors see rise in flu cases

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The number of flu cases reported in Hawai'i soared during February, reaching nearly one in every 10 physician visits during the middle of the month — and it may not yet have reached its peak.

"I would probably still call it a moderate season, but we're not through yet. It's definitely late-peaking," said Dr. Sarah Park, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and deputy chief of the state Health Department's Disease Outbreak Control Division.

The two major strains of flu hitting Hawai'i residents this year do not appear to be particularly easier or harder on patients than those in other years, but they are hitting later than usual and it's not yet possible to say how serious the season will be.

"If your physician still has some flu vaccine and you haven't had it, I'd recommend getting the shot," Park said.

Park she hasn't gotten the flu this year. She got a nasal spray vaccine early in the season. Her colleague, Health Department public affairs officer Laura Lott, did get it.

"It's not any fun," Lott said.

Another sufferer recalls, "I went down like a sack of potatoes."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that while there were problems with the availability of flu vaccines last year, due to a contamination of a major source of the medication, the impact of the flu appears to have been minimized because the strains represented in the vaccine were pretty close to the actual flu strains that showed up this season.

Nationwide, the number of flu cases began rising in December and have kept climbing. Influenza-like diseases have been reported in all 50 states.

The classic symptoms of a flu include fever, headache, body ache, tiredness, a dry cough, sore throat and nasal congestion. Doctors recommend sufferers rest, drink lots of liquids, avoid alcohol and tobacco and take medications that relieve symptoms.

Most people start feeling sick one to four days after being exposed to the flu virus. Adults can infect others from the day before their own symptoms start until five to seven days afterwards. Children can be infectious several days longer.

Park said that besides the normal December-to-March Northern Hemisphere flu season, Hawai'i tends to have a persistent level of flu.

"We always have a little background level," Park said.

There hasn't been any scientific work to prove it, she said, but she feels that may also be associated with the visitor industry, since tourists may come from the southern hemisphere, where the flu season may be in our summer.

"This is speculation, but I think travelers may be bringing it," she said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.

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