The Louisiana Department of Health offers these tips relating to the flu:
—Avoid close contact with people who are sick.—If you have cold symptoms or have fever greater than 100.3, stay away from others until you have not had a fever for 24 hours.
—Call your doctor immediately to see if an antiviral medication is appropriate for you.
—If you are sick, do not visit vulnerable loved ones who may be receiving care in a hospital, nursing home, cancer center or other setting.
—If you are sick, do not kiss babies, pregnant women, grandparents, and others who may be at a higher risk of getting sick.
—Cover your cough and sneeze.
—Try not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth.
—Wash your hands frequently.
—Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
—It’s not too late to get a flu shot.
Officials: Flu prevalent in Morgan City area
The Tri-City area has experienced “a big increase” in flu activity during the past two weeks consistent with what Louisiana is experiencing as a whole, said Dr. Robert Blereau, flu surveillance officer in Morgan City.
St. Mary Parish and Louisiana aren’t alone in experiencing an above average flu season. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Dec. 23, 2017, 36 states had widespread flu activity.
Getting the flu vaccine doesn’t guarantee someone will not get the flu.
But Blereau still advises people to get their flu shots because the season continues until May. A patient will take about two weeks to build up immunity to the flu viruses after getting the flu vaccine, if the shot is going to protect the person, Blereau said.
Teche Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Sabrina Williams said hospital personnel have seen substantial flu activity for about two months.
“We definitely have seen an increase in the flu. It’s alive and well all through the community,” Williams said.
And some of those patients are ones who received a flu shot because the shot isn’t proving effective against all strains of the flu virus, Williams said.
According to the CDC, last flu season, overall vaccine effectiveness against all circulating flu viruses was 39 percent, and effectiveness against a certain strain, H3N2, was 32 percent.
Vaccine effectiveness was higher against H1N1 and B viruses.
Last week, The Daily Mail in the United Kingdom reported this flu season’s “particularly dangerous strain, H3N2, has come relatively early, and the season has probably not reached its peak yet.”
Once a person gets the flu, Blereau stresses the importance of staying isolated from other people as much as possible until the flu goes away. Typically, someone who contracts the flu will stay sick for about a week, Blereau said.
“You can pass it on as long as you’re having symptoms,” Blereau said.
Anyone with a compromised immune system, especially older people and those with diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease or sickle cell anemia, should definitely get the flu shot, Blereau said.
People with those conditions who are around others should also take a prophylactic, such as Tamiflu, Blereau said.
Even if you get the flu after getting the vaccine, flu patients who get the shot usually have fewer symptoms, Williams said.
Though the majority of flu cases are in adults, Teche Regional officials are seeing a significant number of cases in children as well, Williams said.
Doctors also fear, with students going back to school after Christmas break, there may be an increase in pediatric flu cases, she said.
Teresa Bagwell, assistant superintendent for St. Mary Parish public schools, said the school system had an uptick in the number of students sick with the flu just before the holidays.
Since students returned to school Thursday, St. Mary public school officials didn’t have any significant number of flu-related absences, Bagwell said.
Central Catholic Principal Vic Bonnaffee said school officials saw “a couple of cases of the flu” just prior to leaving for Christmas break.
Attendance was normal when students returned to school Thursday, Bonnaffee said.
Holy Cross Elementary Principal Amanda Talbot said the school hasn’t seen much flu activity, but added that school officials don’t always know the specific reasons for student absences.
Much of the increased number of flu cases has been helped by people getting together for the holidays in confined spaces, Williams said. Additionally, people have been inside even more due to the frigid weather.
On Wednesday, a Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals news release said that Louisiana is among the states with the highest confirmed illness through symptoms and laboratory surveillance, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“In more severe seasons, the flu causes approximately 700 deaths and nearly 8,000 hospitalizations each year,” said Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretary, Louisiana Department of Health, in the news release.
Louisiana is “already on track to meet and possibly exceed these statistics for the current flu season,” Gee said.