The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Flu season inches closer
As flu cases start to slowly sprinkle into doctor’s offices across the state, experts said now’s a good time to at least start thinking about getting vaccinated against the contagious respiratory illness.
“We are starting to see some people (with symptoms), and we had one case of parainfluenza, which is kind of like flu, but less
contagious,” said Dr. Zane Saul, Bridgeport Hospital chief of infectious disease. “It looks like we’re off to an early start.”
The state is coming off an active, but not catastrophic, 201819 flu season. According to early statistics from the state Department of Public Health, at least 10,213 people tested positive for the flu in Connecticut last flu season, and there were at least 78 fluassociated deaths. That’s in stark contrast with the 201718 flu season, in which there were 184 deaths linked to the flu.
Flu can sometimes run in a cycle, where a terrible season is followed by several that are less intense, said Dr. David Lo, internist at Western Connecticut Medical Group, a primary care and specialty care group affiliated with Nuvance Health, which includes Danbury, New Milford and Norwalk hospitals.
“We’re really hoping this is going to be a ‘good’ flu season,” said Lo, who practices out of Ridgefield Primary Care.
He added that he hasn’t seen any flu cases yet, but said they could start to slowly roll in soon.
Though flu activity varies from season to season, it typically starts to pick up in October, peaks some time between December and February and can go as late as May. This is relatively early in the flu calendar, but Saul and other experts are starting to think about the impact the illness will have this year — and they caution others to do likewise.
At Stamford Hospital, there have only been a few sporadic cases, mostly linked to travel abroad, said Dr. Michael Parry, Stamford Hospital director of infectious diseases. He doesn’t expect flu to get to the level of public concern until December or so.
But both doctors said the optimal time to get a flu shot for certain groups is far more immediate than the end of the year.
“If you’re part of a compromised group” such as pregnant women or those age 65 or older, Saul said, “you should probably get the ball rolling on a flu shot.”
Parry said usually the best time to get a shot is October, which is early enough for the shot to take effect before flu season begins in earnest, but late enough that the shot is unlikely to wear off before the end of flu season.
Several places have been offering flu shots for a while, including Stop and Shop, which announced in early September that flu vaccine was available in all of its pharmacies, and drugstores such as Walgreen’s. Earlier this month, Walgreens and Americares Free Clinics also announced that they were teaming to offer flu shots to qualifying patients in October.
Both Parry and Saul said it’s too early to know if this will be a bad flu season, or if this season’s vaccine will be a good fit with the circulating strains of flu. Experts said one of the reasons the 201718 flu season was so rough is that the vaccine was, on average, 36 percent effective at preventing flu infections.
Saul said even in a good vaccine match year, the shot is never 100 percent effective. At best, he said, it’s between 50 to 60 percent effective. But that could still make a difference.
“Our recommendation is always that everyone should get the flu shot, and that some protection is better than no protection,” he said.
“If you’re part of a compromised group such as pregnant women or those age 65 or older, you should probably get the ball rolling on a flu shot.” Dr. Zane Saul, Bridgeport Hospital chief of infectious disease