Flu bug spares Ohio deep bite

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The 2009-10 flu season has so far been milder than usual, even with the H1N1 (swine) flu in the mix, public health officials say.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, there were 2,600 deaths from the flu and its most serious complication, pneumonia, between Sept. 1, 2009, and March 5, which is considered the bulk of the flu season. Typically, Ohio has about 3,000 deaths during the flu season.

These statistics, however, do not reflect the H1N1 deaths that occurred between last spring, when the H1N1 flu appeared, and Sept. 1. Also, the numbers are the product of a new system of computing flu deaths requested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes pneumonia, said Jennifer House, ODH spokeswoman.

In the tri-county area during the 2009-10 flu season so far, there were 179 pneumonia/flu deaths: Sixty-four in Mahoning, 45 in Columbiana, and 70 in Trumbull.

The deaths specifically attributed to H1N1 flu during the 2009-10 flu season are Mahoning, 3; Columbiana, 1; and Trumbull, 0. There were 51 H1N1 deaths reported in the state in that period, House said.

Not all H1N1 deaths are reported, however. Only pediatric-flu deaths are required to be reported, although some public health departments choose to report adult H1N1 deaths, House said.

Statewide, the incidence of flu is winding down, and there have been no reports of flu-related admissions to local hospitals in recent weeks, said Neil Altman, health commissioner of the Youngstown District Board of Health.

“March is typically the height of the flu season and when we expected the third wave of the H1N1 pandemic. We haven’t seen it,” said Matthew Stefanak, commissioner of the Mahoning County District Board of Health.

“But,” Stefanak added, “you never know. You don’t expect to see flu in April and May, but we did in 2009.”

The county health district will continue active surveillance. If there is a surge in flu activity, Stefanak urged people to get the vaccine, which he said is in plentiful supply.

Altman partially attributes the so-far mild H1N1 flu season to a plentiful supply of vaccine and people coming out in good numbers to get it.

At the start of the H1N1 scare, he issued a press release asking people to call him if they had been in Mexico before, during and after the H1N1 outbreak there. Mexico is where H1N1 flu in humans started, he said.

“Four hundred people called me, and while none had flu symptoms, it was a great educational tool. I was able to tell people symptoms to look for, which helped prevent hysteria from building up,” Altman said.

“We were lucky that the seasonal flu was milder than usual, because manufacturers quit making the seasonal flu vaccine to concentrate on making H1N1 vaccine,” he said.