WASHINGTON — It’s the holiday present nobody wants. A lot of adults and children in the area are coming down with the flu.
A quick look at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flu surveillance map tells the tale. Flu is widespread in Maryland, while there are regional outbreaks reported in Virginia and sporadic cases in D.C.
School-age children, who are easily exposed to the virus in the classroom and on the playing field, have been hit especially hard early in the 2014-2015 flu season.
Dr. David Hyun, an infectious disease specialist with the Children’s National Health System, says, “We are seeing increased hospitalization numbers — we are presuming it’s from flu, because there are a lot of patients with respiratory symptoms.”
That is not to say adults are immune. Dr. Linda Yau, with Foxhall Internists in D.C., says her practice has been getting calls from patients who see influenza sweeping through their families.
Yau says she’s been doing a fair number of flu tests lately. It’s an easy nasal swab, and these test results are used by the CDC to track the current flu season, which may prove to be far rougher than predicted just a few months ago.
That’s because the primary flu strain this year has mutated slightly, rendering the current vaccine less effective. Some people will still get total protection, while for others it will act much like an anti-viral drug, reducing the severity and duration of flu symptoms.
Yau says that’s enough reason to get vaccinated, adding that since flu season can last until May, it is definitely not too late for adults to roll up their sleeves for a shot or get the nasal spray vaccine for their kids.
“I think it is always best to have as much protection as you can,” she says, adding that good hygiene practices are also important.
Hyun agrees, saying, “Good hand-washing is always an excellent way of preventing influenza.” He also urges kids and adults to stay home when they are sick, and to cover sneezes and coughs to reduce the risk of transmission.
For all ages, the symptoms of flu are about the same: abrupt fever, headache. muscle aches, nasal congestion and coughs. Some of these symptoms mimic a cold, but others — including the achiness — are indications of a disease that is far more severe.
For all ages, it is key to diagnose flu as soon as symptoms appear, because that is when anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu are most effective.
Those drugs are available for most adults, but children can only take them if they are at risk of complications, or their initial flu symptoms were severe.
Several children have already died of flu this season, but Hyun says it will take a while before epidemiologists can really determine how the 2014-2015 flu season stacks up against those of the past.
One bad omen is that the H3N2 flu strain has been responsible for the vast majority of cases in recent years when the flu season has been unusually severe, and that seems to be the dominant strain this time.
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