Time to worry about the flu? Not yet, says Thurston County health official

There are signs we could be in for a particularly nasty flu season, but Thurston County’s health officer says so far flu activity here is what you would expect for this time of year.

“Don’t worry — yet,” said Dr. Rachel Wood with Thurston County Public Health and Social Services, noting the number of flu cases here has been slowly increasing. “We expect that it will behave as in years gone by, so nothing is exciting yet.”

So far there have been no flu-related deaths this flu season in Thurston County, Wood said.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported widespread flu activity in 12 states as of Dec. 9. The Deep South was among the hardest-hit regions.

Washington was listed as having regional flu activity, one step down from widespread.

The Associated Press reports more than 90 percent of the influenza specimens tested nationwide are Influenza A, or H3N2. Rates of hospitalization and deaths are typically higher in seasons when H3N2 is the dominant strain.

And The Los Angeles Times reports Australia had record-high rates of flu and above-average numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. The vaccine given to Australians for H3N2, which was the dominant strain there, had an effectiveness of only 10 percent, according to preliminary estimates.

Still, Wood encourages people to get flu shots — she said flu can peak as late as May — and practice other healthy behaviors such as washing your hands, avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth, covering your cough and staying home when you are sick.

This story was originally published December 16, 2017 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Time to worry about the flu? Not yet, says Thurston County health official."