Thursday, December 29, 2005
Flu bug filling up ERs all across the state
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
Flu season has arrived in Tucson, and hospital emergency waiting rooms are packed.
The emergency room at Tucson Medical Center, for example, usually sees 240 to 260 patients a day. Yesterday, staffers saw 326. Waits ran up to several hours.
The hospital's emergency room has seen a 20 percent increase from last December, the month flu season traditionally strikes, TMC spokesman Mike Letson said. Most of the uptick is from people with flu-like symptoms.
The flu is characterized by fever, chills, body aches, nausea and sometimes stomach cramps and diarrhea. Symptoms last at least a week.
Respiratory infections, by contrast, are marked by severe coughs, ear and sinus infections, bronchitis and other ailments.
State health officials counted 808 confirmed cases of flu in Arizona last week - double the number reported the week before, The Associated Press reported.
Pima County accounted for 156 of the cases, up from 92 the week before, said Lisa Hulette, epidemiology manager for the Pima County Health Department.
That number is only a fraction of the volume of flu cases because most people don't seek medical treatment or have throat cultures taken when sick with influenza.
The outbreak is "not unexpected," Hulette said. "It's exactly the right time of year for that to happen."
Cold weather that passed through Arizona prompted the spike, health officials told AP. They also say visitors seeking refuge from snow country or staying with family may have brought in viruses.
The most prevalent strain for this season is H3N2, which the current flu shot protects against. The vaccine is 80 percent effective in warding off illness, provided there is time to build immunities.
Cases of strep throat, croup, common colds and bronchitis also are showing up, lengthening the line of patients waiting for care.
Like influenza, strep and other respiratory illnesses are fairly common in the winter.
And although the flu season is in full swing, experts say it isn't too late for people to get a shot.
