CDC: Flu reaches epidemic in Florida and most states; 837 deaths reported

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Jacksonville (FTU)

By Karen Kaplan

Deaths due to influenza and pneumonia have hit “epidemic” levels in the U.S. as flu activity became widespread in 36 states including Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials reported 837 flu and pneumonia deaths to the CDC through its 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System during the 51st week of the year. Those deaths accounted for 6.8 percent of the 12,358 total deaths that week, just meeting the epidemic threshold.

Influenza activity was considered “widespread” in 36 states, according to the CDC’s most recent FluView report. These states included Florida and Georgia. No flu-related deaths were reported on the First Coast.

Cities in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin reported 151 deaths, the most among the nine regions in the system. Another 147 deaths were tallied in the Pacific region, which includes California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

FULL story at link.


Associated Press

Read more: http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2014-12-31/story/cdc-flu-reaches-epidemic-florida-and-most-states-837-deaths-reported

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updated Thu, Jan 1, 2015 @ 9:26 am

[A Simple Game]

1. Too bad the flu epidemic didn't go away after the elections like the Ebola epidemic did. n/t

[Fred Sanders]

3. We need to hold a national election right away! Tell the media to cure the flu like they did ebola.

[Demeter]

5. Reality is like that--and by the way, Ebola hasn't gone away, it's gone behind the headlines

where you can't see it, unless you look.

[A Simple Game]

8. I was referencing the Republican and media hype that was used before the elections

to make Democrats look bad. And the fact that the Ebola threat to the US mysteriously went away after they won the elections.

Perhaps I have accidentally hit upon the Republican healthcare plan; stop talking about it and it's no longer a problem. Think that would work with heart disease and cancer?

[mazzarro]

18. Hey, you may hit the magic cure for all diseases! = n/t

[jwirr]

2. My son-in-law had influenza over the weekend. He is a victim of chronic pain and could not keep any

medications down. He is getting better. Now I am hoping my daughter does not get it as she was his care provider.

[Dustlawyer]

17. Just went through the same problem, it is sooo miserable! Hope he is better soon!

[jwirr]

29. Happy to hear you made it through.

[Demeter]

4. Rush out and get that worthless flu shot, now, ye hear?

Less than 50% chance it will do anything to keep you healthy...vitamins B,C,D, sleep and avoiding people will do more for you!

Is this a great government, or what?

[stonecutter357]

6. yes it is a great government

And I will take 50\50 every day

[sybylla]

9. Me too.

Let the perfectionists wallow in disease. I'll take a 50% chance of not getting sick any day.

[LiberalFighter]

55. Absolutely! 50% chance of getting it is better than 100% chance.

If it minimizes the effect of the flu it is worth it.

Besides that. The people won't get the flu from the shot anyway. If that were the case then they should have gotten the flu within 2 or 3 weeks of the shot.

I got mine back in November and no side effects.

[Sancho]

10. My wife and I get the flu shots every year now...

we teach, and after years of a bunch of germ factories giving us flu over and over, we tried the shots and they work! We either don't get the flu or else it's like a mild cold. When we don't get the shots, we get the flu. It didn't take long for us to see the benefit. Our experience fits what the CDC research shows - get the shots and you will also keep from being a host to spread flu to others.

I don't know if getting all the different strains every year make a difference, but our experience is that the flu shots are a good thing.

BTW, we take vitamins, probiotics, etc., exercise, sleep, (except last night on New Years Eve) etc. In fact, we're typical health-nut hippies and very in tune with various healthy life style theories.

Try avoiding people in schools! From kindergarten to college, students love to touch you and everything else in sight, they come to school sick, and often create little local epidemics overnight too!

From my viewpoint, flu shots are one of the more successful vaccinations. When we started teaching in the 70's, you almost didn't hear about flu shots and we were lucky to have kids get basic things like polio, tetanus, etc. Flu would spread through a school and hit the majority of students and staff every year. Now, in-school vaccinations (voluntary) can cut the number catching it dramatically, not to mention reducing the symptoms if you're unlucky.

[840high]

28. I get flu

shot every year. Knock on wood - so far so good.

[RKP5637]

35. I get it every year! A couple of times I got it despite the shot, but it

would have likely been far worse. I got this years, I guess I will stay in as much as I can.

[Warpy]

51. Yes, if they don't get the shot quite right, you can get the flu but it will be milder

than it would have been without the shot. Most years I get a case of "Was that the flu?" wherein I run a temp and have body aches for 2-3 days and that's it, no respiratory stuff and no GI stuff.

I'll take it, thanks. I didn't even get a day of the blahs after this year's flu shot so I guess I was already immune to the strain(s), one of the few benefits of being older than dirt.

[RKP5637]

52. I wonder what's the best way to prevent it. I have a friend that has a weakened immune system,

they've been talking of wearing a face mask when out. I told them maybe that's not such a bad idea.

[Warpy]

53. Well, it will remind them not to touch their faces with their fingers

but a soggy face mask isn't much protection against droplets and they do get soggy. In addition, if you remove one and then touch your face, you've just infected yourself that way.

The best bet is to touch your face with the back of your wrist if something itches when you're out, especially when you're shopping with a germy shopping cart, then wash your hands as soon as you get in the door. If you do get sick and you're out, do the rest of the world a big favor and cough or sneeze into your elbow instead of a tissue or your hand, the elbow stops the droplets dead.

Most colds and flu are caught from surfaces, carried to mucus membranes on the face by fingers. They can also be caught from droplets from people who won't cover their faces when they cough or sneeze, that's how I caught the one that almost killed me.

However, you can dodge most of them by keeping your fingers away from your face. That's what I do and it keeps me reasonably healthy, even in the supermarket full of germy little kids.

[RKP5637]

54. Thanks Warpy!!! Excellent advice!!!

[LiberalFighter]

57. Good info to know and reminder.

[LiberalArkie]

49. Yep same here and just got the pneumonia shot. Like you said like a cold.

But it is like getting hit with a 2x4 when the flu shots misses bad. But before I started getting shots I generally came down with pneumonia and almost ER bound several times. Not as bad now. I think I have the flu now, no sinus drainage, but my blood pressure is up and down. 90/60 and check again and 150/90, and head spinning like I have been on an all night drunk. Going to wait until tomorrow and see if I am going to the doctor.

[LiberalFighter]

56. I try to minimize touch when I am with others.

I can't avoid everyone. When I can I try using a fist bump instead of a handshake. Whether it works or not I don't know for sure. At least I haven't gotten the flu or sick since at least 2006 when I retired. I do come in contact with more senior folks with my retiree group each month.

[SoapBox]

11. I take my chances by getting a flu shot...

I never started getting it until about 10 years ago.

My doctor finally said I might consider it because I'm exposed to several hundreds of people when at work...that and in combination with the fact that so many are not immunizing and then won't stay out of public when sick.

I wouldn't get it if sickly idiots would stay home.

[Demeter]

12. Hear! Hear!

If only we had a government that demanded sick leave for the people...paid sick leave, and universal single payer health care....we'd be on par with Cuba!

[totodeinhere]

16. Yes we do need those things. But what I'm saying is that it is not the government's fault

that the vaccine is not totally effective. But yes by all means we do need single payer and paid sick leave. I have advocated that for years.

[SoapBox]

50. California has passed a mandated paid sick policy...

Governor Brown signed it...3 paid sick days per year per worker.

I don't know the details yet...just heard about it yesterday.

[Skittles]

14. you understand avoiding people is not an option for many people, don't you?

people who worked retail during the holidays, for example

[totodeinhere]

15. I would not blame the government for this. Producing the vaccine requires a long lead time

and it is impossible to determine that far in advance just exactly what flu strain will be most prominent and exactly how the vaccine should be formulated. It's a crap shoot at best.

The current vaccine is at least partially effective and experts continue to recommend that people get vaccinated. Of course your other advice is also relevant.

[Chakaconcarne]

19. Highlighting the less than 50%......

Unfortunately with these percentages the flu vaccine manufacturers cannot fully determine why someone didn't get the flu.... they claim if you got a flu shot and didn't get the flu then certainly it was because of the flu shot.... what they can't tell you is whether you just weren't exposed, practiced flu prevention measures, have a strong immune system, etc. For all but the severely immune compromised (even that is questionable based on recent studies) the flu shot is little more than a money maker for manufacturers imo. We used to fight this naturally and do well at it, now if we dont get a flu shot we're endangering others, etc. Ymmv. Also see antigenic sin.

[NuclearDem]

22. The flu shot isn't worthless.

plzlern2epidemiology

[magical thyme]

26. not sure where you got the <50% effectiveness from, the flu shot is not worthless

1. It is cross-reactive with the strain that emerged to dominate, so still provides some , although not full, protection against it.

2. Every spring the CDC looks at which flu strain appears to be dominating in order to predict which vaccine will be effective against the broadest population. They make that decision in the spring in order to give time for the manufacturers to gear up to mass produce the vaccine. And the vast majority of the time, that strategy works.

This past spring, the strain that has ended up dominating turned up in only 3% of cases, so when they made the choice of vaccine they went with the strain that was identified 97% of the time. A few months later, the 3% strain unexpectedly took off and by August it was nearing 50% of cases, so it's not surprising that it has now surpassed 50%.

Most years they get it right. This time they missed, but this wasn't a mess up, it was nature not following its usual path. It happens now and then.

The deaths continue to be those who's immune systems are either not fully developed (children), worn out (elderly) or compromised.

In the past, I relied on herd immunity. Since I started working in health care, the vaccine pretty much required (in my hospital you can still say no, but they make that increasingly cumbersome. Since I've been getting it, I find I'm less inclined to get even colds during flu season.

[RKP5637]

36. K&R! +++ 1,000 +++ n/t

[vkkv]

44. I can't read your post

All of the animations give me a headache.

[magical thyme]

45. sorry. take 2 aspirin & call me in the am. And whatever you do, don't open this post, lol! nt

[Kali]

60. you can disable sig lines in your "my account" settings

[PatrynXX]

38. yeah well I don't consider it worthless

since I've been getting them I haven't gotten the worst illnesses that come from Flu. so hey there's the flu but if you wanna keep breathing that flu shot sure works..

[The Blue Flower]

7. Connection to lack of health care in red states?

I'd be interested in finding out the rate of death from influenza in states that don't have Obamacare vs. those that do. Too many people can't afford to go to the doctor in these states.

[Yo_Mama]

39. Poor match on flu shot

The flu shot really didn't change from last year to this, so an uncommon strain (over the past few years) was preferentially selected and now is responsible for many of the cases.

But that is normal - flu strains constantly evolve, and every year they use viral analyses from the spring to formulate a shot that will protect against flu. This year, it just so happened that it is not that effective.

[PumpkinAle]

13. It was admitted that this year's flu shot was off the mark

but generally they do a good job. This year's strain has already mutated...........

The annual flu shot is designed to combat up to four strains of influenza, but there is always a chance that the virus could mutate and adapt, becoming resistant to the vaccination. According to a report by the CDC, via NBC News, that appears to be what happened this season. This year’s strain is known as H3N2, but the H3N2 strain has already mutated, causing concern for doctors. The viral mutation is called a “drift” and it exposes everyone who has already received a flu shot vaccination to this new, mutated virus. Officials are still warning people — especially the very young and very old — to get a flu shot, even if the cocktail injected won’t be as effective as officials had hoped.
http://www.inquisitr.com/1655240/flu-shots-miss-mark-wrong-vaccine-given-in-2014-15-everybody-at-risk/#0oWLzcEkUkAKup28.99

[Shrike47]

20. As long as it's not Ebola, people can die all day long and Pukes won't pay much attention.

Gun deaths, for instance, are just part of daily living. So are deaths from poverty and disease.

[brooklynite]

21. Interesting geographic pattern of outbreak

Opposition to ACA?

Anti-vaxing?

[hedgehog]

24. Boy, it sure looks like socio-political factors are at work.

It's possible it has something to do with weather or reporting methods, but look at NYS compared to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Tennessee is an outlier - what makes it different from Kentucky to the north and the states to the south? Look at New Mexico and Arizona. Colorado is notorious for middle class anti-vaxers. Is that why it stands out from the surrounding states?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. And yet there's Minnesota, which enthusiastically adopted the ACA,

has an overall healthy, well-educated population, and no significant numbers of anti-vaxxers, but a lot of people (mainly school kids) got the flu anyhow. Maybe because the lousy weather caused people to stay indoors and close together? There could be a lot of reasons - note also that some of the more densely-populated states also seem to have more flu cases. If you are in contact with more people, your chances of catching something from them are higher.

[hedgehog]

30. I agree, the map is a starting point for asking more questions. I was looking at Minnesota myself.

[HockeyMom]

37. Weather related in FLORIDA?

People are not hundled together indoors against the cold when it is in the 80s in January.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

43. No; there could be other reasons.

[Posteritatis]

31. Huh, wonder what Tennessee's up to there. (nt)

[proverbialwisdom]

33. Fact-free speculation much? This looks at kindergartners only so it isn't definitive but be careful.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/vaccine-exemptions-states-pertussis-map

[HockeyMom]

42. Only Children?

So if all children were required to be vaccinated in Kindergarten it would eradicate disease/flu? Adults cannot spread disease/flu? Have all adults all gotten vaccinated and are up to date on their boosters and yearly flu sots? What is the solution? No vaccinations (flu shots) equals no employment? Firing? Cannot get on a plane or in a car travelling, go to a supermarket, movie, restaurant, etc.? Can you say police state?

[proverbialwisdom]

48. I did not overstate any claims (see caveat), but y'all are stereotyping. (nt)

[uppityperson]

34. You need to look at the weekly maps to see it spread because where it is changes

and looking at only 1 week gives incomplete information. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivitysurv.htm.
The 1st link has an interactive map.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#ISTE

[freshwest]

59. Red states for the most part. Anti-ACA most likely.

[PeoViejo]

23. I had a rough Night

Coughing up Blood, dehydration, Cytokine Storm. Sometimes having a good Immune System can be a disadvantage. Spent 4 Hours soaking in the Tub to Rehydrate and keep my Temperature down. I had my Flu Shot too. Hopefully, it's burned-out. As long as I don't get a secondary infection, it should be over soon.

[OregonBlue]

25. Actually I was looking at the charts of where it's reached epidemic and it's almost

all red states that have not implemented the ACA. Not straight across the board but most, and the worst, in southern states. My assumption is that those states that did implement it have gotten most of their population to doctors and gotten the elderly and children vaccinated.

[nichomachus]

32. I had the shortest flu on record -- and I'm thanking the shot

About noon one day I started feeling really tired. By 3 p.m., I felt like I had just finished a marathon (although I have absolutely no idea what that's like). At about 6, I started feeling feverish. I took my temp and it was 103. Then I started having chills -- had to wrap myself in a blanket -- and had muscle and joint pain all over. I went to bed. I figured I was in it for the long haul. It was hard to sleep because of the pain. I dozed off, and about 3 a.m., I woke up and didn't feel so feverish. Took my temp again and it was 99. The joint and muscle pain started subsiding. I finally went to sleep and woke at 6 a.m. with all symptoms gone -- except for being tired from not getting much sleep. Temp was back to normal and no

I hate to think what I would have been in for if I hadn't had the shot.

[Yo_Mama]

40. That doesn't seem to be the flu!!!

We don't know what it is, but a lot of people are getting it. Most healthy people are acutely ill for only one day or a portion thereof, whether vaccinated or not.

The acute chills are the most common feature. Also headache and muscle aches, but what's so unusual is the very brief duration. People are very uncomfortable for that period though.

[nichomachus]

41. I don't know, but it sure felt like it -- all the same symptoms n/t

[HockeyMom]

47. Take your temperature

Acute chills are a sign of a fever which comes from an infection, as with the flu. Your white blood cells are trying to fight off the infection. That is the difference between a cold (not a virus),and the flu.

A cold and the flu are totally different.

[Ace Rothstein]

46. Sounds like a week's worth of flu...

...packed into one miserable day.

[LiberalFighter]

58. I had something the middle of last year that thought was the flu.

Threw up bad but was fine and dandy about 6 hours later.