I've been trying to get the flu, I've been SLAMMING vitiman C by the truckload (EMERGEN-C powedered drink mix) and LOTSA Orange juice!
Anyone else with the flu?
Dennis
Possible Flu Pandemic?
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azsnowman
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Possible Flu Pandemic?
We are in the beginning stages of the WORST flu season in recent memory in Arizona........according to CDC, Arizona is reporting 800 NEW cases per DAY I've been trying to get the flu, I've been SLAMMING vitiman C by the truckload (EMERGEN-C powedered drink mix) and LOTSA Orange juice!
Anyone else with the flu?
Dennis
I've been trying to get the flu, I've been SLAMMING vitiman C by the truckload (EMERGEN-C powedered drink mix) and LOTSA Orange juice!
Anyone else with the flu?
Dennis
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azsnowman
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- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2003 8:56 pm
- Location: Pinetop Arizona. Elevation 7102' (54 miles west of NM border)
Sorry....the 800 a DAY is NOT right, I heard that on the local FOX channel this morning, THEY need to some research themselves 
http://www.azcentral.com
Flu 'widespread' in state
Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 29, 2005 12:00 AM
The flu bug is biting hard in Arizona, with more than half of all confirmed cases this season being reported this week alone.
Of the 808 flu cases so far this season, 424 came into the state health department over the past week, said David Engelthaler, epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Last year at this time, there were fewer than 100 cases confirmed by lab results and sent to the department. The numbers are a fraction of the volume of flu cases because most people don't go to the doctor or hospital when sick with the flu or have throat cultures taken. advertisement
The spike is spoiling a lot of holiday leisure plans for people and semester breaks for kids. Employers already short-staffed from vacations are feeling the pinch.
"We're still coughing. At least we don't have the chills and fever anymore," said Bill Goddard of Chandler, who was sidelined for three days last week before his wife, Judy, got the bug.
Bill, 63, never made it to the doctor - "because I'm too hardheaded" - and isn't sure what he got was the flu. He called in sick two days in a row to Honeywell Inc., where he has worked for 31 years. He had never called in sick before.
Arizona now has "widespread" flu activity, the highest designation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The flu activity level has steadily increased from "sporadic," the lowest level, to "local outbreak" to "regional" to "widespread" over the past four weeks. Of Arizona's 15 counties, only two, Pinal and Gila, have no reported flu activity in the past three weeks.
"It's hitting us much earlier this year. We don't know where this is going, but it's definitely spiking, definitely on the upward trend, but we don't know when it will peak," Engelthaler said.
The most prevalent flu strain this year is H3N2, which this year's flu shot protects against. The shots are 80 percent effective in warding off illness, provided there is time to build immunities.
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.
Christine Schmidt, a paralegal who lives in Peoria, was surprised two weeks ago when she started feeling crummy after a Friday holiday party. By Sunday, she was laid up, coughing fiercely, choking so badly that her eyes teared and feeling like someone was standing on her chest.
She tried getting a doctor's appointment on Monday but was told it would be Tuesday afternoon at the earliest. "I'll be dead by then," Schmidt, 48, told her doctor's receptionist.
She went to an urgent-care center and was shocked to learn that she had pneumonia. The doctor prescribed a high-powered antibiotic that she took for five days, which cured her in time for Christmas.
"It's hit our office really bad," Schmidt said.
Most people don't know where or how they pick up a flu virus but often can trace it back to close quarters, crowds and others who have been ill.
When a spouse or friend gets sick, some go to great lengths to shield themselves or their kids. Judy Goddard, a real estate agent, avoided husband Bill by keeping her distance, plus she sanitized door handles, telephone receivers and other household objects to no avail.
The Goddards' five grandchildren in southern Arizona are still fighting the flu.
Even people who received flu shots were not immune.
John Schell, a 45-year-old lobbyist and Goodyear resident, got a shot a month ago but was saddled with the illness along with his two sons and wife over the holiday weekend.
"This is the first day I'm really upright," he said Wednesday. "We definitely came down with something big."
Engelthaler, of the health department, said the timing for the flu spike was not good.
"Kids are going to be going back to school soon," he said. "But even if they feel well enough, if they're symptomatic, they should stay home. It's better to take a couple more days."
The same goes for workers who are dead set on showing up at the office and putting their colleagues at risk.
"I know we got hit pretty hard here in the health department with a lot of upper respiratory infections," Engelthaler said.
He pointed out there are steps to take to prevent the flu bug from ruining the week.
"At this point in time, it's still not too late to get a flu shot," Engelthaler said. There's also plenty of antiviral medicine that can be prescribed by a doctor if patients request it within 48 hours of the illness' onset.
"And, of course, the three biggest things you can do are wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands."
http://www.azcentral.com
Flu 'widespread' in state
Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 29, 2005 12:00 AM
The flu bug is biting hard in Arizona, with more than half of all confirmed cases this season being reported this week alone.
Of the 808 flu cases so far this season, 424 came into the state health department over the past week, said David Engelthaler, epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Last year at this time, there were fewer than 100 cases confirmed by lab results and sent to the department. The numbers are a fraction of the volume of flu cases because most people don't go to the doctor or hospital when sick with the flu or have throat cultures taken. advertisement
The spike is spoiling a lot of holiday leisure plans for people and semester breaks for kids. Employers already short-staffed from vacations are feeling the pinch.
"We're still coughing. At least we don't have the chills and fever anymore," said Bill Goddard of Chandler, who was sidelined for three days last week before his wife, Judy, got the bug.
Bill, 63, never made it to the doctor - "because I'm too hardheaded" - and isn't sure what he got was the flu. He called in sick two days in a row to Honeywell Inc., where he has worked for 31 years. He had never called in sick before.
Arizona now has "widespread" flu activity, the highest designation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The flu activity level has steadily increased from "sporadic," the lowest level, to "local outbreak" to "regional" to "widespread" over the past four weeks. Of Arizona's 15 counties, only two, Pinal and Gila, have no reported flu activity in the past three weeks.
"It's hitting us much earlier this year. We don't know where this is going, but it's definitely spiking, definitely on the upward trend, but we don't know when it will peak," Engelthaler said.
The most prevalent flu strain this year is H3N2, which this year's flu shot protects against. The shots are 80 percent effective in warding off illness, provided there is time to build immunities.
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.
Christine Schmidt, a paralegal who lives in Peoria, was surprised two weeks ago when she started feeling crummy after a Friday holiday party. By Sunday, she was laid up, coughing fiercely, choking so badly that her eyes teared and feeling like someone was standing on her chest.
She tried getting a doctor's appointment on Monday but was told it would be Tuesday afternoon at the earliest. "I'll be dead by then," Schmidt, 48, told her doctor's receptionist.
She went to an urgent-care center and was shocked to learn that she had pneumonia. The doctor prescribed a high-powered antibiotic that she took for five days, which cured her in time for Christmas.
"It's hit our office really bad," Schmidt said.
Most people don't know where or how they pick up a flu virus but often can trace it back to close quarters, crowds and others who have been ill.
When a spouse or friend gets sick, some go to great lengths to shield themselves or their kids. Judy Goddard, a real estate agent, avoided husband Bill by keeping her distance, plus she sanitized door handles, telephone receivers and other household objects to no avail.
The Goddards' five grandchildren in southern Arizona are still fighting the flu.
Even people who received flu shots were not immune.
John Schell, a 45-year-old lobbyist and Goodyear resident, got a shot a month ago but was saddled with the illness along with his two sons and wife over the holiday weekend.
"This is the first day I'm really upright," he said Wednesday. "We definitely came down with something big."
Engelthaler, of the health department, said the timing for the flu spike was not good.
"Kids are going to be going back to school soon," he said. "But even if they feel well enough, if they're symptomatic, they should stay home. It's better to take a couple more days."
The same goes for workers who are dead set on showing up at the office and putting their colleagues at risk.
"I know we got hit pretty hard here in the health department with a lot of upper respiratory infections," Engelthaler said.
He pointed out there are steps to take to prevent the flu bug from ruining the week.
"At this point in time, it's still not too late to get a flu shot," Engelthaler said. There's also plenty of antiviral medicine that can be prescribed by a doctor if patients request it within 48 hours of the illness' onset.
"And, of course, the three biggest things you can do are wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands."
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conestogo_flood
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Rainband
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Skywatch_NC
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Rainband wrote:It's been a sinus type flu around here.Lasts for what seems like foreverrrrrr.
Same here in Raleigh and Wake Co...alot of the sinus infection crud around.
My Dad has had it for a while now...heard it can last up to at least 3 weeks.
It's no wonder, too, with temp extremes from day to day for ie. yesterday a high in the lower 60s here, today and tomorrow low to mid 40s.
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Miss Mary
I'm just getting over a viral infection, possibly a touch of the flu. But since I had the shot, it wasn't anywhere near full blown flu. I've heard of people getting sick though, something's going around. All I know is I have all my xmas stuff up and the tree. Hoping to get it all packed away this weekend - what timing!
Mary
Mary
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Rainband
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