Months after the state's deadliest flu season in at least 30 years, health officials said Wednesday that they already are seeing an unusual uptick in cases as they prepare for the next season.
"Early indications at this point are that we are seeing two or three times the activity that we saw at this point last year," state epidemiologist Dirk Haselow said. "It doesn't mean it's going to be sustained. It doesn't mean it's going to start early, but it's not a good sign regardless."
During the latest flu season, 227 people, including five children or teenagers, died, making it the deadliest season for which the state Department of Health has records, Haselow said.
In recent weeks, health care providers have been reporting about 60 flu cases a week, compared with about 20 a week a year ago, he said.
At a news conference Wednesday, Haselow and Jennifer Dillaha, medical director for the department's immunization program, urged Arkansans to get flu shots to protect them from the approaching season, which typically starts in October.
Last season, a vaccine that was less effective than usual contributed to the high number of deaths, Haselow said.
So far, the current vaccine appears to be a good match with strains that have been circulating, he said.
"We hope people will get the vaccine, not just for themselves, but to protect people in their household and people they care for," Dillaha said.
The vaccine, which is also available as a mist, is recommended for adults of all ages and children 6 months and older, she said. It takes about two weeks to become fully effective and usually reduces the chance of illness by about 50 percent, she said.
For those who get sick, she said, the vaccine has been shown to lower the risk of death by 80 percent and hospitalization by 70 percent.
Children up to age 8 who haven't previously been vaccinated or who have had only one shot in the past will need to get two shots four weeks apart, she said.
In coming weeks, the Health Department will be administering the vaccine to public school students around the state and offering it to the public at mass clinics at each of its local health units. Information on the clinics is available on the department's website, healthy.arkansas.gov.
The department will bill a patient's health insurance for the vaccine, but the patient will not have to pay out of pocket. Those without insurance will not be charged. The vaccine is also available from doctors offices and pharmacies.
Metro on 09/20/2018