Community Corner

County Health Department Reports Higher Incidence of Flu This Season Than Last

The post-New Year's flu outbreak is in full swing, according to the Will County Health Department.

It’s that time of year again—time for sniffling, sneezing and aches and pains.

But according to the Will County Health Department, this year’s flu season is expected to be a return to business as usual. After last year’s swine flu pandemic, this year’s flu strains are nothing out of the ordinary, according to Media Services Manager Vic Reato.

The end of the holiday season typically means a spike in the number of flu cases, he noted. The holidays are a time for family togetherness, but they’re also a time when illnesses spread like wildfire as people travel to see loved ones.

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“When they go, they take their diseases with them,” Reato said. “All kinds of viral diseases beging to increase after New Year’s. It’s nothing we don’t typically see.”

Despite last year’s swine flu outbreak, the number of Will County patients who have tested positive for flu viruses has actually increased in 2011.

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Between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2, Will County hospitals reported a total of 58 patients testing positive for the flu. For the same period in 2010, just three patients were diagnosed with a form of the flu.

What’s changed, according to Reato, is the people who are most affected by the flu.

“We’re not seeing a severe amount of serious (flu-related) illness in young people,” he said.

With the decline in swine flu cases, which primarily affected children, senior citizens are once again the most vulnerable to complications from the flu, Reato said.

“Seniors are at the greatest risk, and that’s kind of what we’re back to this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the number of school absences due to influenza-like illnesses has dropped countywide. According to Health Department statistics, just 1 percent of students have been reported absent due to ILI this month. In January 2010, 5 percent of students were reported sick with flu-like symptoms.

 How to Stay Healthy

To avoid catching or spreading the flu, the solution is pretty common sense, according to Reato: wash your hands, and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

Another way to fend off the flu: Get a flu shot.

“The Centers for Disease Control are recommending that pretty much everyone over the age of six months old get a shot unless they are allergic to eggs or there is some other special medical risk,” he said. “Last year and this year are the first years where I can remember that pretty much everyone is recommended to get a shot.”

But unlike last year, when demand for swine flu vaccine was high, there is no shortage of vaccine.

“There’s plenty to go around,” Reato said.

He offered a word of caution for those who think the flu shot is a surefire way to ward off illness.

“You have to remember that (vaccines) contain components to protect you against three virus strains,” Reato said. “There’s probably about 200 influenza virus strains out there.”

Each year, federal officials determine what vaccines will be distributed based upon the most prevalent strains, he said.

“So it’s kind of a calculated gamble,” Reato noted.

He can attest to that firsthand.

“I got one of the viruses that wasn’t contained in the vaccine,” Reato said. “It hit me like a ton of bricks last week.”

Will County residents can make an appointment with their doctor to receive a flu shot. In Romeoville, both and Jewel-Osco offer vaccinations with no appointment needed.

Unlike last year, the county is not offering community flu clinics, but the Will County Health Department’s Community Health Center, 1106 Neal Ave., offers vaccinations and takes walk-ins, Reato said.

Vaccinations are available by appointment only at the Health Department’s , 323 Quadrangle Drive, Bolingbrook. To make an appointment, call the county’s flu immunization hotline at 815-740-8143.

“We really don’t care where you get it, as long as you get it,” Reato said.


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