Experts Say Flu Season Off To A Slow Start
Experts say flu season has made a slow start this winter, with widespread illness only being reported in Virginia and New Jersey, the Associated Press reported.
Dr. Nancy Cox, influenza chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a meeting of flu specialists on Monday it has been kind of a “ho-hum year.”
However, doctors say influenza usually ramps up in February, long after many people have forgotten the fall’s campaigns to get vaccinated. Last year, there was even a spike in March.
CDC data shows that while doctor visits for flu-like symptoms have been reported below normal all season; they did begin increasing weekly throughout January. Fourteen other states are reporting what CDC calls "regional activity," meaning flu is making people sick, just not as many statewide as is usual.
Many specialists, however, are concerned over the possible spread of bird flu, as the global recession could threaten work to keep the deadly H5N1 strain in check in birds, which in turn limits its spread to people.
The World Health Organization recorded 44 human cases of H5N1 last year, down from 88 the previous year.
The WHO’s Dr. Keiji Fukuda said that while bird flu’s intensity can vary from year to year, the drop does reflect better control of the disease in poultry, from monitoring for infected birds worldwide to China’s massive poultry vaccinations.
Fukuda said China is experiencing a rise in bird flu cases that has sickened eight people in the past month, six of them in provinces that hadn’t reported outbreaks among poultry.
Bird flu has killed 254 people worldwide since 2003, despite it rarely being transferred into humans.
Scientists warn that if it is not better contained in birds, it could mutate into an easier-to-spread form and possibly trigger the next influenza pandemic.
Fukuda warned against letting "flu fatigue" from years of pandemic preparations combine with the recession for cutbacks in key H5N1 control programs.
He said there was already some danger of backsliding among a number of countries.
Fukuda added that the WHO still considers a pandemic "a matter of when," not if, saying countries must keep watch for other new flu strains besides H5N1.
Two cases of people catching swine flu have been reported in the last six weeks, one in South Dakota and one in Spain.
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