The Centers for Disease Control said Friday that influenza cases in Kansas are widespread enough to increase the weekly from “regional” to “high.”
But the Kansas Department of Heath and Environment said compared with this time last season, cases are down.
Still, the flu is starting to show up in more areas, according to the KDHE. Chief Epidemiologist Farah Ahmed said slightly more than 4-and-a-half-percent of emergency room visits are due to influenza-like illness.
“So far this year, we are reporting 6 deaths where influenza was the direct cause of death. CDC states flu activity is unlikely to have peaked and is expected to continue nationally for many weeks, “Ahmed said.
Pharmacist Janae Welch says there is a new medication out this year called “Zofluza,” which taken within 48 hours of showing, studies have shown to be fairly affective, shortening treatment from Tamiflu by one day
“If someone gets the flu, they’re going to have a fever over a hundred degrees, sore throat, extreme fatigue like you don’t want to get out of bed, body aches, chills, headache,” said Adrienne Byrne, Director of the Wichita Division of Health.
“We have not hit the peak yet in Kansas or in the United States so we’ve just begun to see the last week a little bit of an uptick in flu cases.”
Byrne says the key to winning the battle against the flu is prevention like washing your hands frequently, covering your cough and getting your flu shot.
“We don’t know yet how good of a match (the vaccine is) it is but preliminary we’re hearing that it’s a good match what their seeing are the strains are a good match for the shot, said Byrne.
