The flu is hitting hard -- and early -- this season. The message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is that it's still worthwhile to get immunized against the flu.
While the flu is often confused with both a stomach virus and the common cold, the influenza virus is a serious respiratory tract infection that causes symptoms including high fever, muscle and body aches, cough, sore throat and headache.
"It appears that influenza has increased very dramatically in the last few weeks," said Lynnette Brammer, an epidemiologist in the influenza branch at the CDC.
The peak season for the flu is typically from the end of December through March. According to the CDC, each year 10 to 20 percent of the population is affected by the flu, and of those infected, one percent require hospitalization.
Brammer said that it is too early to tell how this flu season compares to previous ones. However, CDC's surveillance systems, which include mortality reporting from 122 U.S. cities of influenza-related deaths, reports from corps of physicians around the country on influenza-related office visits and laboratory reports on respiratory viral tests, all show an increase in the number of flu cases.
Most people recover from the flu in one to two weeks, but certain high-risk people including the elderly and people living with chronic health problems can develop life-threatening complications. CDC reports an average of 20,000 flu-related deaths annually.
The good news is that the flu is largely preventable with a vaccination.
While October or November is the ideal time to be vaccinated, it is never too late. The vaccine is needed each year because there are multiple flu viruses and they are constantly changing. The vaccine is updated to include the current influenza virus strains. Side effects are rare.
Flu vaccinations are recommended for high-risk people including all people aged 65 years or older, residents of nursing homes and people of any age with chronic diseases of the heart, lung or kidneys, diabetes or who have a compromised immune system, which may be because they are receiving chemotherapy for cancer or have HIV/AIDS. The vaccine is also recommended for health-care professionals and others in close contact with high-risk people.
"Everybody should be vaccinated," said Dr. Steven Lamm, assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine. "But you can't be cavalier after being vaccinated. You should still practice good health habits including regular hand washing, getting enough sleep and eating right." In healthy people, the flu vaccine is 70 to 80 percent effective in preventing illness. It is less effective in older people who are, in general, less responsive to vaccinations.
Lamm has been conducting clinical trials of an herbal supplement called cat's claw, which he describes as an immune modulator. Although more testing is needed, early data suggest that the supplement may be effective in boosting people's immune response to a vaccination, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of immunizations.
