Study: Flu season is nothing to sneeze at
Warns shot is only 10 percent effective
Flu season has started earlier than usual and a recent study suggests this year’s vaccine is less effective than in years past — a dangerous combination that has state public health officials warning people about the potentially deadly virus.
So far this year, 133 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza have been reported in the Bay State, compared to the 51 that had been reported this time last year, according to the Department of Public Health.
And because most people who show flu symptoms don’t go to the doctor and get tested, state epidemiologist Alfred DeMaria cautioned those numbers represent only a small portion of actual cases. But what the figures do suggest is that at the current rate, the flu season is likely to peak before the holidays, DeMaria said.
“Every flu season is different, but usually cases of influenza reach their peak in January, February or even March,” Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel said. “This year we are seeing a very rapid increase in influenza-like illness across Massachusetts, along with an increase in confirmed flu cases. This suggests that Massachusetts may be having an earlier start.”
Adding to the concern is a report published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine that estimated the current vaccine is only about 10 percent effective against this year’s flu strain. In a typical year, a flu vaccine has an effectiveness rate between 40 percent and 60 percent, according to the report.
In the hopes of curbing this year’s outbreak, health officials are urging people to wash their hands thoroughly and regularly, use hand sanitizer, cover their coughs and sneezes, stay home when they’re sick and talk to their health care provider if they think they have the flu.
The doctor may prescribe antiviral medications, which work best when started early in the course of illness.
“It’s estimated that between 15,000 and 35,000 deaths are caused each year by the flu and its complications,” DeMaria said. “That’s why we take the flu very seriously.”
People at higher risk of serious health problems when they get the flu include pregnant women, infants, the elderly and people with medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, neurological and neuromuscular conditions, and weakened immune systems, he said. Of the two species of influenza — A and B — A tends to cause more severe symptoms in older people, DeMaria said.
“But even if you’re young and healthy, you can bring the flu home to one of those compromised people,” he said, “and it can be devastating to them.”
The flu virus is spread through droplets of saliva and mucus from the nose and mouth of someone who coughs or sneezes. If you’re within three to six feet of someone coughing or sneezing, you can breathe in the virus and begin to show symptoms within one to four days.
For more information about influenza, visit www.mass.gov/ flu.