Flu season around corner

SIKESTON -- The flu season hasn't hit southeast Missouri yet, but those involved in health care are still urging several precautions to avoid getting the bug.

"Every year it's different, but usually the peak season is December, January and February," said Kay Griffin, women's health care nurse practitioner at the Scott County Health Department in Sikeston.

The flu is a serious contagious respiratory illness, caused by the influenza virus, which affects millions of people in the United States each year.

And the good news is that, with a late flu season, there is still plenty of time to get flu shots, despite myths that one needs to get them earlier in the season.

"You can get it into November and December, said Bob Barnhart, a pharmacist at the Chaffee Medicap Pharmacy. "It only takes a couple of weeks for you to get the immunity."

He advised anyone over the age of 18 who has not gotten a shot to do so as quickly as possible. According to a recent news release from Medicap Pharmacy, the Centers for Disease Control highly recommend the shot for children as young as six months of age to 19 years old, those over 50, pregnant women, people who live in long-term care facilities and those who live with or care for people at high risk for complications with the flu.

The CDC estimates the flu causes more than 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths annually, but a recent Medicap pharmacy survey found more than half -- about 56 percent -- of Americans don't plan on getting a shot, mostly because they think they are healthy and don't need it, or have the misconception the shot will give them the flu.

For those who still decide to get a shot, though, it may be difficult to come by. Barnhart said his pharmacy and others still have it in stock. The vaccine is also distributed by health departments, although Griffin said the Scott County Health Department administered its last shot early last week.

When flu season arrives, it's pretty common for people to confuse the virus with other illnesses.

"The main way to tell the difference between the flu and a cold is joint pain," said Barnhart.

"They have a higher fever and are achy," added Griffin. "And (those with the flu) are going to be home, in bed, for several days."

Since the flu season hasn't really hit yet, they aren't sure what the symptoms will be like this year. "Every season it's different," said Griffin.

When it comes to getting over the flu, rest, fluids and proper nutrition are the best ways to treat the symptoms, Griffin and Barnhart agreed.

"But I would advise that, after about three days, if people aren't getting any better, to go ahead and see a doctor," said Barnhart.

Griffin advised making an appointment as soon as one has severe symptoms. "There is medication they can give you to help you get over this sooner," she said. She also advised pain relievers such as Tylenol and Motrin, or checking with a pharmacist to see if there are any over the counter medications on the market.

One of the biggest things Griffin stressed is for people to just give themselves the time to rest and to stay away from others so the virus doesn't spread -- even if it means a smaller paycheck.

"That's a tough decision for people, but really, it's better for them and everyone around them to stay home," she said. "They're going to feel better sooner and probably miss less work in the long run."

She said small children should be kept away from crowds during a peak season, and that it's always a good preventative measure to wash one's hands often, or even just keep a bottle of antibacterial hand wash close by and use it frequently to cut down on germs.

Finding flu outbreaks

This year, people will have a new tool to learn just how many people have flu symptoms in their area. Google engineers have learned that, by tracking the popularity of certain search queries, they can accurately estimate the level of the flu in each state, in near real time. Those results will be posted to a special site, www.google.org/flutrends, which offers up-to-date influenza-related activity estimates for each state.

During last flu season, Google shared its preliminary results with the CDC and found its search-based flu estimates had a consistently strong correlation with real CDC flu data, which take one to two weeks to collect and release. According to a news release, the Google Flu Trends site can serve as an early-warning system for flu outbreaks.