People with flu-like symptoms accounted for about 12 percent of local emergency room volume in January, and the visits attributed to the infection are higher than each of the last three years. Public health officials warned this week that the virus has not yet reached its peak.
The Florida Department of Health said the state saw the sharpest rise in activity in the last week and another pediatric death attributed to flu, bringing the number of fatalities to three. Some schools, daycare centers and nursing homes have been besieged by the flu as well, the agency said.
A 12-year-old student in West Palm Beach died after experiencing flu symptoms this week, and schools in Gulf County closed last Friday because about 20 percent of the students were sick.
The ripple effects are widespread, affecting all age groups, especially the young and the elderly. In the last week, one outbreak involving 18 people was reported at a long-term care facility in Volusia County. Officials said a smaller outbreak was identified Tuesday at a Flagler County elementary school.
“Our numbers at hospitals continue to be high — double what we’ve seen in past years for this time, so (we’re) definitely still seeing high numbers,” said Paul Rehme, director of infection control for the health department in Volusia County. “We have not had any pediatric deaths that I know of, so that’s good news.”
Statewide, there have been 52 new outbreaks reported to the Florida Department of Health during the third week of the year, bringing the total number of outbreaks involving two or more cases of flu to 159 this season.
“Just by observation we are definitely experiencing a busier flu season this year,” said Flagler County health department administrator Bob Snyder. “In Flagler County, the data shows we have seen an uptick overall the last three weeks of flu-like symptoms being reported.”
Schools on alert
Local schools overall said they’re seeing little to no signs of the flu so far this year, at least in regards to attendance. The student absentee rate is not remarkably higher than normal.
But there has been some mild activity. A small outbreak at an elementary school was reported Tuesday to the Flagler County health department, officials said. Days before Christmas, Flagler County schools saw a first outbreak in a kindergarten class at Old Kings Elementary.
Outbreaks can be as few as two cases of flu or more found in a specific setting.
Flagler County schools implemented a new protocol this summer to create a more “quick and thorough reaction” when handling incidents involving communicable diseases, said Lynette Shott, who oversees student and community engagement for the district. The procedure developed with input from the health department includes sanitizing many of the surfaces where affected children frequently visit. It was put to use for the first time during the outbreak before the holiday.
“We had one class at Old Kings that had four or five kids out,” Shott said. “It spiked there and then it was declining very quickly in a matter of days so that seemed to be working well.”
Debbie Fisher, health services coordinator for Volusia County schools said there was some flu activity in New Smyrna Beach but not a large cluster, which she considers more than 10 to 15 people who are all in the same class or grade.
She said the school system of 63,000 students has absences in the "low 300s" for students out of school because of flu-like symptoms.
Volusia County's school system held a flu clinic earlier this year and offered the vaccine to every child regardless of their ability to pay. Although the vaccine is said to be somewhat less effective this year, Fisher said that’s still one of the best defenses.
“I would take a chance at getting the vaccine than not,” Fisher said, “because you just never know what strand is going to be out there so it’s better to be precautious and vaccinate.”