TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Flu Cases Spike In February

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

TAMPA - Flu shots delivered in October are rolls of the dice, health officials say, and the losers are those who went under the needle then and are afflicted now.

This month usually sees a spike in flu cases, but this year the flu hitting town seems to be taking its toll especially on children, even children who were vaccinated in the fall, officials said.

James Orlowski, chief of pediatrics at University Community Hospital on Fletcher Avenue, said that the increase in flu-infected children this time of year is a cause for concern.

"We're seeing more and more hospitalized children," he said Thursday. "February is always the worst month in Florida for the flu. We tend to lag behind the rest of the country."

This month, he said, "we are hospitalizing three to four a week. It's much greater than we usually do."

About a quarter of those in pediatrics getting flu treatment are children who have had flu shots, he said. Although that number seems high, it's well below the national average.

Each January, he said, national health officials analyze the strains of flu going around and try to predict the strains that will hit the next year. From there, they order the vaccine that treats those strains. But strains are constantly changing and reinventing themselves, he said.

"Usually the predictions are 90 percent accurate," he said.

But this year, he said, the predictions were slightly off the mark, resulting in more of a flu presence this winter. Across the nation, more than half of those inoculated for the flu are susceptible, he said, because of the missed predictions.

Another factor, he said: "The bug is a worse one than in previous years."

Warren McDougle, epidemiology program manager for the Hillsborough County Health Department, confirmed there has been an increase in flu cases. He said it happens every year about this time and that the numbers are about normal.

In the first week of February, he said, health care providers in Hillsborough reported 16 cases of influenza to his department. Last week 34 cases were confirmed. This week the number dropped to 25.

"It's flu season," he said. "We haven't seen anything indicating anything widespread throughout the community."
Health officials say flu kills 40 to 50 people in this area every year.
Flu shots are delivered in October and November, said Lori Wright, who is with the Florida Department of Health's bureau of immunization. "That's the peak season for flu shots," she said.

The current increase should serve as a reminder for people to take precautions, McDougle said: washing hands, covering your face when coughing or sneezing in public and keeping away from people who are sneezing.

"If you are sick," McDougle added, "stay home from work. If you don't, the next thing you know, we're all sick."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at kmorelli@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7760.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT