BUILDING A BETTER YOU:COLLEGE EDITION
A podcast on how to live a healthy lifestyle while in college.
Influenza Rates Increase as We Move Through Peak Season
by SEAN PATTERSON on FEBRUARY 12, 2018
Flu season is taking a toll across the nation and the Statesboro community with its widespread activity.
“The biggest things it has done is Just’ take everything out of me. I have no energy, I get exhausted really quick, I’m literally just laying in bed trying to hydrate, but I can’t and when it’s bad, it’s bad,” said senior public relations major, Maggie Walsh.
She has had 2 different strands of the Flu, has spent a total of two weeks being sick and has not been vaccinated.
Flu season starts in October, peaks in winter and ends in May. Statistically we’ve had worse seasons, such as the 2014-2015 epidemic, but this is the first time in recorded history that there is widespread flu activity across every state in the country according to data released by the CDC.
With flu activity on the rise, getting vaccinated and staying protected is important. Two experts break down the importance of the flu shot and myths associated with it.
Normally the flu bug is sporadic. Some Areas see widespread while others see normal activity. However, every region of the country is reporting widespread activity.
Flu severity is categorized by people that test positive for influenza, hospitalization rates,flu-associated deaths among children, and visits to healthcare providers for Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI). Children 5 years and younger as well as adults 65 and older are the most at risk for the disease.
​
This season's numbers is slowly, but surely reaching those of the worse ones we’ve had, primarily because of vaccine effectiveness and the circulating strain.
​
Epidemiologists predict the seasons strain based on what circulated the previous year. This year's strain, H3N2, wasn’t predicted well enough by researchers to develop an effective enough vaccine like past seasons.
Vaccine effectiveness is usually around 40 percent-60 percent in prevention, whereas this year it has only been between 20 percent-30 percent effective, which is 20 percent lower than the national average. This is similar to the 2014-2015 epidemic which was only 19 percent effective and that of 2004-2005 where it was 10 percent effective.
The effectiveness is 10 percent-20 percent lower on average than that of the past Five flu seasons.
Current data reports show that patient visits for ILI is approximately eight percent which is roughly six percent higher than the national average of 2.2 percent and 4 percent higher on average than that of the past four flu seasons (2013-17) of approx. four percent.
With such low effectiveness and high hospitalization rates there are bound to be a lot of deaths. There were 40,414 deaths in the U.S. during the third week of 2018 and 4,064 were from pneumonia or influenza according to Fortune.com research on CDC data. Of those deaths 67 are from Children. The number is expected to rise in coming weeks.
Of those deaths, 67 were from children. This is on track with the 2014-2015 season where 148 children died and is expected to surpass that of last year's death toll of 110.
Such high activity makes its way through Georgia Southern as more students report having the flu.
Around every corner students are coughing, sneezing and dreading through campus trying to make it to class not knowing of the dangers they are causing.
Approximately 250 or more ILI cases have been reported to health services for the current season. This years number are quickly approaching that of the previous 3 years at 400, 352 and 442 respectively (2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17) according to the Health Services database.
Greg Evans, Ph.D. and Dean of the College of Public Health said the main reason we are seeing such high rates is because students aren’t getting vaccinated or practicing flu prevention guidelines like they should and as a result the flu is spreading rapidly throughout campus.
Vaccine rates are typically low throughout campus. This year approximately 800 students have received vaccination. When you mix that with high population and not-so-healthy students, it’s a recipe for disaster.
It has gotten so bad the campus requires professors to work with students who have the flu or flu-like symptoms in regards to making up missed work and urging those students to stay home until they are healthy and no longer contagious.
What started out as just widespread activity is now turning into an epidemic. As we get more into peak flu season, the numbers are only getting worse.
The CDC is working hard to slow down the spread of this years strain and encourages vaccination.
Georgia Southern encourages students to practice the flu prevention guidelines laid out by the CDC to minimize its effects on campus. For more information on the flu and its symptoms visit cdc.gov.
