Health care officials are issuing a new warning about the super flu as children return to school, with the flu positivity rate in Oklahoma jumping more than 8% in just seven days.
Dr. Douglas Drevets, an infectious disease specialist at OU Health, warned last week, “We’re on the steep part of this curve that’s going up, and it’ll be interesting to see how high it gets.”
The flu positivity rate increased from 13.5% to 21.8% statewide in one week, with 90% of cases attributed to the H3N2 K variant, according to Drevets.
A survey from the Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago reveals that one in three parents does not plan to vaccinate their children against the flu this winter, despite the vaccine being recommended for children as young as six months.
Drevets emphasized the importance of vaccination, stating, “A vaccine can turn a fatal case into a severe case. A severe case into a mild case, or a moderate case, a mild case into a moderate case.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that adults 65 and older are at the highest risk for severe flu, accounting for 70 to 85% of flu-related deaths.
Antiviral medications, including Tamiflu and Xofluza, are effective if symptoms are treated within 24 hours.
Drevets advises parents to monitor their children for severe symptoms such as trouble breathing, nasal flaring, wheezing, lethargy, and a fever above 104 degrees, and to seek emergency care if necessary.
As schools reopen, Drevets predicts a potential spike in flu cases, saying, “It’ll be interesting to see where this goes in the next two to three weeks after schools open up. That’s typically the time in Oklahoma where you see peak flu. Once you get all these kids back together, boom; it’ll skyrocket.”
He also cautions against using aspirin to treat children’s fevers due to the risk of Reye’s syndrome.
