I have apparently come down with the
Flu; and I'm a mess! Never in my life have I felt the kind of "sick"
that I feel now. Fever 103.4 which is not
the highest I've ever had in my life but it is not good for a guy my
age (55) to have a fever that high. Coughing . . . . so bad that I
wondered if my lungs were going to rip out of my chest! Muscle pains . .
. everywhere. Joint pains, everywhere. Diarrhea.
In the middle of the night I
decided the fever was too much for me. Despite the thermostat in the
house being set to 72, and despite me wearing boxer shorts, full length
sweat pants, two pairs of socks, a t-shirt and a heavy wool sweater, and
despite being under a sheet, a blanket, a folded-over bedspread (folded
in half with both halves covering me, and another blanket, I couldn't stop shivering.
I was really burning up, so I took four Motrin and went back to sleep.
At some point overnight, I guess the Motrin caused the fever to break
because I woke up to totally saturated wet sheets and blankets. I mean TOTALLY
saturated, as if someone dumped a bucket of water on my side of the
bed. My wife woke up this morning and asked "what the hell happened to
the covers, they're soaked?" Sorry Honey, didn't do it on purpose.
So today I start researching this season's Flu and I find that this year's outbreak has already killed 27 people in California, just killed a healthy 33 year old soccer player in Ireland and is spreading so fast in so many places that hospitals are actually running out of certain medicines!
EARLY THIS YEAR: Flu outbreak reported in 36 states, CDC says
As many as 36 states across the U.S. reported widespread influenza activity in December, but epidemiologists say it is too soon to say how bad the flu season will be this year.
The early start of the outbreaks, which usually see a peak in February, is attributed to the low efficacy of the vaccine and possibly the cold temperatures gripping much of the country.
(CDC) |
According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the strain H3N2 is responsible for the majority of the
deadliest cases reported this season.
"It's just one of those years where the CDC is
seeing that this strain of flu is only somewhat covered by the vaccine
that was given this year," said Jennifer Radtke, manager for infection
prevention at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, as quoted by USA Today.
"They're seeing that it's anywhere from 10 percent
to 33 percent effective, so any time there’s a mismatch between the
vaccine and the circulating strain of the flu, you’re going to see more
cases."
In the last week of 2017, 21 states experienced high influenza activity and another five qualified in the moderate range.
So far, more than 30 people have been reported dead
from the flu this season, USA Today reported. At least 11 people younger
than 65 have died in California, while North Carolina has reported 12
deaths and South Carolina seven.
According to CDC data, the flu virus has caused
between 9.2 million and 35.6 million illnesses in the U.S. each year
since 2010. Those cases resulted in between 140,000 and 710,000
hospitalizations, and between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths each year.
Medicine shortages, packed ERs and a rising death toll in California.
So many people have fallen sick with influenza in
California that pharmacies have run out of flu medicines, emergency
rooms are packed, and the death toll is rising higher than in previous
years.
On January 5, Health officials said that
27 people younger than 65 have died of the flu in California since
October, compared with three at the same time last year. Nationwide and
in California, flu activity spiked sharply in late December and
continues to grow.
The emergency room at UCLA Medical Center
in Santa Monica typically treats about 140 patients a day, but at least
one day this week had more than 200 patients — mostly because of the
flu, said the ER’s medical director, Dr. Wally Ghurabi.
“The Northridge earthquake was the last time we saw over 200 patients,” Ghurabi said.
A rush for treatment
Experts say it’s possible that this year’s flu season is outpacing the last simply because it’s peaking earlier.
The flu season is
typically worst around February, but can reach its height anytime from
October to April. Though influenza had only only killed three
Californians at this time last year, it had taken 68 lives by the end of
February, according to state data.
Many California doctors, however, contend that the recent surge has been unusually severe.
“Rates of influenza are even exceeding
last year, and last year was one of the worst flu seasons in the last
decade,” said Dr. Randy Bergen, clinical lead of the flu vaccine program
for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.
Source: California Department of Public Health. Graphics reporting by Soumya Karlamangla |
State health officials said Friday that there was no region of the state where people were being spared from the flu.
In Riverside and San Bernardino counties,
ambulance services have been severely strained because of the number of
flu calls coming in, local health officials said.
Plus, emergency rooms are so crowded that
ambulances arriving at hospitals can’t immediately unload their
patients, so they’re unable to leave for incoming 911 calls, said Jose
Arballo Jr., spokesman for the Riverside County Department of Public
Health.
“The ambulances have to wait … and if they’re waiting there, they can’t be out on calls,” Arballo said.
Most people in California and nationwide are catching a strain of influenza known as H3N2, which the flu vaccine typically doesn’t work as well against. National health officials say the vaccine might only be about 32% effective this year, which could be contributing to the high number of people falling ill.
H3N2 is also a particularly dangerous strain of the flu, experts say.
“It
tends to cause more deaths and more hospitalizations than the other
strains,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, L.A. County’s interim health
officer.
Young, Fit Soccer Player age 33, Dies from Flu in Ireland
Today, January 9, there is an outpouring of grief
across Tyrone, Ireland following the sudden death of popular GAA player
and father-of-two Christopher `Crico' Colhoun.
The 33-year-old died just 24 hours after being admitted to hospital with flu, leaving his family "broken and shocked."
Mr Colhoun, who was a member of Tyrone's 2007
McKenna Cup panel, is originally from Pomeroy, but now living in Clonoe
with is wife Lisa and their two children Grace and Beth - the latter
born in the summer.
The gifted teacher, who had only recently become
vice-principal at Donaghmore Primary School, was a "fit and healthy
non-smoker" who was also proficient in the martial art jujitsu.
Mr Colhoun last year won an Ulster Intermediate title with his club the Pomeroy Plunketts.
It is understood that he had been battling flu for a few weeks before becoming seriously ill.
Medics in the intensive care unit at Belfast's Royal
Victoria Hospital battled to save the life of the senior GAA player,
but his condition declined rapidly in the early hours of Monday and he
died shortly before 2am.
Flu is Spread by air
This year's Flu is transmissible by droplets
released when an infected person coughs. If you are coughed-upon, or
walk thru an area where an infected person has coughed, you can become
infected.
If you touch a surface that was coughed upon, or
pick up a package in a store or supermarket that has been touched or
coughed upon by an infected person, you can become infected.
I believe this is how I became infected. I came
down with this a few days after having gone food shopping in a local
supermarket.
The best way to avoid infection is to wash your
hands obsessively so that you don't become infected after having touched
a contaminated surface (door knob, door handle, shopping cart, or
packages [mail, UPS, etc.]) and avoid persons known to be infected
(coughing).
Once you get it, buckle-up because you're about to
go for a ride that is VERY unpleasant. Believe me, I know. I have it
and this sucks.
Source: halturnerradioshow.com