Cases of flu in area slowly on the rise

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Student Eunice Kim gets a squirt of hand sanitizer from lunch supervisor Komal Patel on Wedneday as they demonstrate precautionary measures in preventing the flu at Nature Ridge Elementary School in Bartlett. | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 19, 2011 9:32PM

It’s not the H1N1 of 2010, nor the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. It’s just the plain old seasonal flu.

According to area health departments that have reported a modest but steady increase in the past few weeks of those showing flu symptoms, including congestion, fever, aches and fatigue.

The state reached the top tier of flu saturation, labeled “widespread activity,” in the last week of January and the first week of February, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Records kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Illinois is one of 32 states now reporting widespread occurrence of influenza.

In January, there were 13 flu-linked intensive care cases in Chicago.

The flu season is now circulating in all 50 states and widespread in 37, health officials report.

Pediatric deaths from flu tripled in the past month, jumping from 10 early in January to 30 by Feb. 5, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We still have a lot of flu out there,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. “We saw activity really start to pick up in December, and it has continued through January into February, which is normal,” he said.

Outpatient doctor visits because of flu increased steadily from January to February, according to the report in the Feb. 18 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report covers the period from Oct. 3, 2010, to Feb. 5, 2011.

While it’s too early for exact numbers, the flu, which usually peaks in February, contributed to 8 percent of adult deaths in 122 cities that report this data to the CDC. This is considered an epidemic level.

At Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center, all visitors are being screened and those with flu symptoms told to go home. Those without get a yellow sticker to wear during their visit.

At Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, visitors with a cough are asked to wear masks.

While symptoms are a good indicator of diagnosis, flu is not recorded formally by public health agencies, which describe likely cases with the term “influenza-like illness.”

The ailment is more widespread than official reports indicate. What’s more, not everybody sees a doctor when they fall ill.

“Flu is something that sometimes people have a mild case,” said DuPage County health department spokesman David Hass. “We [don’t] get a true picture of what’s going on out there.”

As with most flu, this year’s seasonal strains take special aim at those who have compromised immune systems, babies and elderly people.

While the best way to avoid the flu was getting (or still getting, even though it is late in the season) a flu shot, good hygiene and taking care of oneself through good nutrition also can stave off a lot of illnesses, said Kathy Aureden, an epidemiologist at Sherman Hospital in Elgin.

Contributing: Sun-Times wires