Flu ‘widespread’ in Ohio, though not in Columbus

The Ohio Department of Public Health on Monday upgraded its description of flu activity in the state to “widespread,” the second- highest geographic indicator.

The upgrade from “regional” reports of flu across the state 10 days ago means influenza has already geographically spread to a level that Ohio didn’t hit last year until mid- January, the Ohio Department of Public Health said.

And though flu season is already here, experts say it’s not too late to get a flu shot and perhaps avoid a week-long bout of fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches. The flu season in Ohio generally runs from October through March.

During the week ending Dec. 9, the most recent information available, there were 144 new flu- associated hospitalizations in Ohio, compared to 92 the week before. That’s up from only 29 during the same week a year ago, the department said. So far this flu season, there have been 401 flu- associated hospitalizations, trending above the five- year average.

But now the good news: the “central” region of Ohio, which includes Columbus and Franklin County, reported only 16 hospitalizations, about 11 percent of the state’s total, for the week of Dec. 3-9. Of the 401 statewide hospitalizations for the entire flu season, only 25 were in Franklin County, or 2.15 cases for every 100,000 residents.

“The flu activity is low in Franklin County,” said Radhika Iyer, infection disease program supervisor for Franklin County Public Health. While the statewide levels are higher, “we’re probably not there yet. There’s a lot more hospitalizations in other parts of Ohio.”

But it’s only a matter of time before the number of cases increases here: “There’s definitely good flu activity that’s happening,” and its spread geographically across Franklin County and Ohio, Iyer said.

While Franklin County flu activity is officially “low,” it’s trending higher, up from “minimal” in October and early November, with positive diagnoses, emergency room visits and hospitalizations all up from the week before, according to the county’s Weekly Flu Update.

The city of Columbus has experienced an uptick in the number of labreported cases and positive tests, though it hasn’t seen a large wave of hospitalizations, said Dr. Mysheika Roberts, the city’s health commissioner. While well below the more than 600 hospitalizations last year, it’s way too early to predict that the city’s flu season will be less severe, she said.

When adjusted for population, tiny Paulding County in northwestern Ohio near Toledo has the highest flu problem so far this season: its nine hospitalizations amounts to almost 46 per 100,000 residents. Montgomery County, which includes Dayton, had the highest number of cases so far, 45, which is more than 11 per 100,000 residents, according to the state. About a third of the state’s 88 counties had reported no flu hospitalizations yet.