The latest weekly influenza report issued by the Indiana State Department of Health showed that Indiana has seen 9 people die as a result of flu.
In the latest report issued on Friday, Dec. 29th the department of health indicated that eight of the nine deaths were those over the age of 50. The first death due to influenza that was reported this year on December 8th was of a person under the age of 18.
Donna Oeding, Director of the Dubois County Health Department, emphasized the importance of obtaining the flu vaccine even though the effectiveness varies between vaccines and strands of flu. Oeding says limited amount of protection is better than no protection at all….
There are many different flu viruses and they are constantly changing. The CDC reports that the composition of U.S. flu vaccines is reviewed annually and updated as needed to match circulating flu viruses. Flu vaccines protect against the three or four viruses (depending on vaccine) that research suggests will be most common.
While Oeding stressed there is no way of knowing the exact number of flu illnesses that occur each season due impart because flu is not a reportable disease and not everyone who gets sick with the flu seeks medical care or gets tested. She stressed that the symptoms being seen predominately are those of a respiratory nature….
The CDC conducts surveillance of flu activity year round through several surveillance systems, such as the Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet), which collects information on outpatient illness, and FluSurv-Net, which collects information on hospitalizations.
Many hospitals including Memorial here in Jasper have imposed restrictions on their emergency rooms and those who are visiting the hospitals in wake of the elevated cases the state is seeing.
Oeding says if you haven’t been vaccinated there is still time to get the flu vaccine but not to wait. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for the body’s immune response to fully respond and for you to be protected so make plans to get vaccinated.
The Dubois County Health Department is offering adult and pediatric flu vaccines daily, during normal business hours at the health department with no appointment necessary.
The CDC recommends ongoing flu vaccination as long as influenza viruses are circulating, even into January or later. The Centers for Disease Control has reported that the flu is widespread throughout Indiana and 35 other states.
Below are links to the CDC for commonly asked questions and a link to the latest Indiana Department of Health Weekly Influenza Report.
CDC commonly asked questions regarding flu:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2017-2018.htm
Weekly Indiana Department of Health Influenza Report:
