MODESTO BEE
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

By KEN CARLSON
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: December 30, 2005, 04:43:54 AM PST

A common strain of influenza is making people sick in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, although it's not as widespread as in Southern California.
Dr. John Walker, public health officer for Stanislaus County, said area hospitals are reporting patients testing positive for Influenza A.

While the flu often strikes first on the East Coast, California and other Western states have the highest rates of influenza this year.

A major health care provider is predicting that the flu season will be more serious than 2004-05, considered mild by most health officials.

"California is seeing quite a spike in cases, like in the 2003-04 season," said Alix Sabin, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente, which helps the state track influenza. "We are thinking it is going to be worse than last year."

The strain of flu is identified as H2N2. People get a high fever and severe body aches, and it comes on rapidly, said Dr. Gary Misslbeck, chief of the Sutter Gould Medical Foundation urgent care clinic on Coffee Road.

The clinic is seeing about four or five cases a day, he said. None of the patients has been hospitalized.

"This year, it's earlier than normal," Misslbeck said. "Normally, we see the flu in January and February."

Doctors can prescribe Tamiflu for people who seek care within 48 hours of the onset of flu. The medication treats the symptoms, shortening the time that people feel sick.

Those most vulnerable to becoming seriously ill with flu complications are children younger than 6 months, adults 65 and older, and those with chronic illnesses. Parents are advised to have their child examined if he or she has a high fever or looks quite ill.

"We can check them out for secondary infections, such as pneumonia or ear infections," Misslbeck said.

So far, area hospitals have not been overwhelmed with flu sufferers.

Memorial Medical Center in Modesto has not seen many cases, a spokeswoman said.

John Gilbert, spokesman for Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, said about 40 percent of patients who have gone to the hospital's emergency room this week had flu symptoms. The vast majority were released after being examined, he said.

Typically, he said, the flu spreads more rapidly after the holidays when people return to work and children are back in school.

Health officials are encouraged that people who received flu shots this year were vaccinated against the H2N2 strain.

Each year, the government predicts which strains of flu will sweep the country and targets those in the vaccine. But the predictions are not always on the mark.

Beverly Eldridge, an immunization coordinator for the Health Services Agency, said there still is time for people to be vaccinated. It takes two weeks for the shots to take effect and the flu season usually peaks in January or February.

"The severity can be huge, when you think that the flu can cause death in children and adults," she said, noting that 35,000 are killed by flu complications nationwide each year.

The county's Health Services Agency still is operating a walk-in vaccination clinic for lowincome county residents at its Scenic Drive complex in Modesto.

Others who still are interested in vaccination are advised to ask their doctors.

Craig Baize, a spokesman for Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, said the physicians group still has vaccine for its patients by appointment.

Kaiser Permanente ran out of injectable vaccine this fall after experiencing high demand from its membership in Northern California. A nasal spray vaccine is available for members age 5 to 49 at Kaiser medical offices in Stockton, Sabin said.

Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at 578-2321 or kcarlson@modbee.com.