www.eagletimes.com
Study confirms vitamin D protects against colds and flu
A recent study by a global team of researchers has found that Vitamin D supplements are effective in preventing respiratory diseases.
news.harvard.edu
How to Prevent the Flu -- as Easy as 1, 2, 3...
It is important to understand the causes of viral upper respiratory syndromes if you want to avoid them.
articles.mercola.com
Flu arrives early in area, strikes hard this season | January 18, 2018 By PATRICK ADRIAN Biologist Rebecca Gillespie holds a vial of flu-fighting antibodies at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health last year in Bethesda, Md. Despite 100 years of science, the flu virus too often beats our best defenses because it constantly mutates. — AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) This is not an ordinary flu season in the area, according to officials. Though given a virus’s evolutionary nature, an “ordinary season” is a slippery definition at best. “We are seeing widespread activity,” says Blythe Kersula, infection prevention nurse for Springfield Medical Care Systems. “This is the first time in 13 years that all 50 states have reported a widespread flu outbreak [concurrently].” In addition to being nationwide, Kersula says this year’s flu season arrived much earlier than some years. Last year’s season began in February and run into June. This year, Springfield’s medical facilities began seeing it in December. “We were seeing [the outbreak] here before Vermont officially reported it,” she notes. Adding to the concern of health officials is the strain. H3N2, the flu virus driving this outbreak most, affects people with low immune systems, particular children under age and adults over 65. “When H3 viruses are predominant, we tend to have a worse flu season with more hospitalizations and deaths,” says Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Dehydration is a major cause for hospitalization, as is difficulty breathing, particularly among adults who smoke, Kersula explains. The H3N2 strain was also the central culprit in 2014, the worst flu season in recent years, whose close comparisons with the present one have officials on edge. “We can’t say for certain what it looks like for the remainder of the season,” Dan Jernigan, director of CDC’s Influenza division, reported last week. “However, it is looking like our [early] season seems to be tracking somewhat worse than 2012-13, perhaps not as bad as 2014-15,” The CDC reported more than 700,000 flu-related hospitalizations nationwide during 2014-15. During the first week of January this year, the rate of hospitalizations per 100,000 infected Americans nearly doubled from the previous week’s, from 13.7 percent to 22.7. Another similarity between this season and 2014-15 is the ineffectiveness of the vaccine. Officials anticipated a H1 strain this year, which was the most predominant virus last season, explains Kersula, though adding that H3N2 had been documented as well. The CDC creates four flu vaccines each year; with hundreds of flu strains out there, officials choose according to commonality and frequency. That said, Kersula still recommends that people get a flu vaccination. “There are probably some H1 viruses circulating as well,” she says, “And getting the vaccination might make the symptoms of the H3 virus less severe.” Had the vaccine been more effective, the earlier flu season would not have caught most vaccine-receivers off guard, says Karl Mussgnug, Rite Aid pharmacy manager in Claremont. “On average, we usually administer between 600 and 700 flu vaccines per store, 60 to 75 percent of those occur between September and November,” Mussgnug said. Partly for that reason, the national attention this year has not caused a sudden increase in customers requesting immunizations. At this point, most Rite Aid customers requesting flu vaccines are college-aged, home during semester break, Mussgnug said. Officials says getting specific numbers of flu cases is difficult, because it is not a reported disease. In New Hampshire, for example, only 19 emergency care centers provide data to the state’s Department of Heath and Human Services (DHHS). Only 8 percent of schools report their flu-related absences. Kersula said flu tests normally used are not entirely accurate. A postive flu test is definite but a negative test doesn’t necessarily mean there is no flu. Some negative flu reports turn out to be the flu. When doctors see patients with upper respiratory and flu-like symptoms, they will typically treat it as they would the flu.
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