OFFICIALS: FLU IN AREA APPARENTLY PEAKED

Although federal officials have now labeled this winter's flu outbreak as a nationwide epidemic, local and regional health officials in Southeast Missouri said the flu's major impact peaked here in late December.

But, they said, illnesses with flu-like symptoms and non-flu-related illnesses such as bronchitis, pneumonia and gastro-intestinal tract sickness likely will persist through early spring.

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. reported last week that deaths attributable to the flu reached epidemic levels in the last week of December and the first week of January. The epidemic is the nation's first since 1989.

An epidemic is declared when the death rate is appreciably higher than the projected rate of 6.2 percent.

As of Jan 10, 31 states, including Missouri, had recorded flu outbreaks. Most are the worst flu strain classified as A/Beijing.

While the number of confirmed cases of flu continue to increase in the northeast and eastern United States, the number of cases reported in Southeast Missouri is declining, health officials said.

Sue Tippen of the Missouri Division of Health's communicable disease office in Poplar Bluff said the number of confirmed flu cases in the 25-county region has fallen since Christmas.

"We're seeing an increase (in cases) in the northern counties of the district, such as Ste. Genevieve, but in the rest of the area the numbers are dropping," she said Monday.

Tippen said as of Jan. 3, 248 confirmed cases of flu have been diagnosed in Missouri through laboratory tests. Of that number, 24 patients were age 1 or younger, 26 patients were ages 1 to 4, 21 patients were ages 5 to 9, and 39 cases were ages 10 to 14.

Tippen said 17 flu cases were among those ages 15 to 19 while 28 cases were between 20 and 29 years of age. There were 30 patients with the flu ages 60 and older.

Tippen said the first appearance of the A/Beijing strain of flu virus in Cape Girardeau County occurred in mid-December after cultures taken from several Southeast Missouri State University students came back positive.

Mary Ellen Gerlach, spokesperson with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Department, said local statistics indicate the flu probably peaked here in late December.

"Just before Christmas, the Cape Girardeau public schools were reporting abnormal absentee rates, a lot of them due to upper respiratory infection and gastro-intestinal sickness," she reported.

Linda Goodman, head school nurse for Cape Girardeau schools, said the impact of the flu virus seems to be declining.

"We're still seeing a lot of aches and pains, fever, sore throats, and the GI tract stuff, but the number of absentees is down compared to before the Christmas break," she said. "On one day December we had 107 junior-high-school students with flu symptoms. Since school started Jan. 2, its kind of tapered off."

Each week Gerlach surveys the two local hospitals, a pediatrician, and two day-care centers to obtain statistics on illnesses.

Gerlach said the number of URIs increased last week to 38, compared to 33 cases the week before. She said there were 20 cases of GI tract illness, up slightly from the 17 cases reported the prior week. The number of strep throat cases declined from 21 to 18, and the number of cases of bronchitis fell by over half, from 37 to 15.

In addition, the number of pneumonia cases declined dramatically, from 12 to 3.

Pat Pennington, emergency services coordinator at Southeast Missouri Hospital, said the number of flu cases being seen in the emergency room is declining.

Pennington said: "We're still seeing a number of illnesses with flu-like symptoms and some upper respiratory tract infection, but overall the virus seems to have peaked during Christmas week. It has ebbed a little bit. We've seen a lot children, a lot of adults, and a lot of hospital staff come through emergency room."

A spokesman for St. Francis Medical Center said most of the flu cases seen at St. Francis were in the 30- to 100-year-plus age group. The hospital's total patient census is also up somewhat for this time of the year, reflecting the illnesses that are going around, the spokesman said.

Area health officials said although the flu seems to have peaked in the region, there are still a lot of other "bugs" out there that can cause flu-like symptoms such as severe aches and pains; high fever; dry, hacking cough; nausea; and diarrhea.

Most of these can be treated at home unless secondary infection problems develop such as dehydration or pneumonia.

Those who come down with any of the symptoms should get lots of bed rest, drink lots of fluids, and take aspirin or aspirin substitutes. If the symptoms persist, or become more severe, consult the family physician at once.

Young children with fever should never be given aspirin, authorities caution.

In addition, medical experts also recommend that flu victims and those who have flu symptoms take a break from hard, physical activity. They warn the flu is systemic, that it affects the entire body, including the heart.

Said one athletic trainer, "If you feel bad you probably shouldn't do anything." A physician has similar advice: "If you don't feel up to your usual pace, don't push."