Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Jan. 16, 2013, edition 1 / Page 12
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Nearly 0,500 report flu symptoms across NC ^‘Officials urge • { use of masks “‘ By BOB MONTGOMERY * The Daily Advance ■~-; Some hospitals and nurs ( ing homes are “strongly” recommending that pa , , tients and visitors wear . surgical masks to help con ’ trol an early outbreak of the seasonal flu virus. The N.C. Department of r. Health and Human Servic ; es reported 6,481 patients • statewide have reported flu * like symptoms since early ; October, and 17 flu-related { deaths, according to figures ! compiled through Jan. 5, released Thursday J “It’s the earliest onset of f the seasonal flu we’ve seen in 10 years,” said Mark Van | Sciver, a state health de ; partment spokesman. “It’s f.; unusual.” ‘ The flu has reared its ; head in Edenton-Chowan. • For the month of Decern ber Vidant Chowan Hospi tal reported 91 confirmed cases of the flu with 89 al ready reported by Jan. 11, according to Brian White, a hospital spokesman. Fortunately, flu sickness among Edenton-Chowan Schools has not been as rampant. Michelle Maddox, schools’ spokeswoman, said absences among students has been normal so far with each school recording about 25 absences per day for a myriad of illnesses and not all flu-related. Although the flu season typically runs through April, this year health offi cials have seen a spike in flu cases much earlier. For the week ending Dec. 29, hos pitals statewide reported 9.13 percent of all patient visits were related to the flu — about four times the national and regional aver age for that time period. “This flu season does appear to be worse than the past two years and we W. Queen St. 482-2402 .the food is stillthe samel Soft Serve Ice Cream & ALU J||g Bacon Cheese Burger Combo......................$5.59 WEEK’S Quarter lb Cheese Burger... .$5.19 SPECIALS BBQ Combo___$4.79 41 R/tesIs & C hW.vjii-. m a NOW ACCEPTING VISA, MC &VDISCOVER CALL FOR TAKE OUT (252) 482-2402 STAFF PHOTOS BY THOMAS J. TURNEY Angela Lowe, an employee at Albemarle Hospital, in Elizabeth City, dons a surgical mask outside a hospital entrance, Friday. The hospital is encouraging patients, visitors and employees to wear masks to help prevent the spread of flu. haven’t yet hit the peak, which usually occurs in February,” Albemarle Hos pital emergency physician Samantha Furia said. “We have been seeing a dozen or more people a day in our emergency department with flu-like symptoms or post-flu complications.” Hospitals in southeast ern Virginia are reporting double the number of flu cases this season and an even higher rate — close to 15 percent of all new TOWN OF EDENTON GARBAGE COLLECTION MIX DAY SCHEDULE 2013 MONDAY, JANUARY 21 ST “HOLIDAY” NO COLLECTION TUESDAY, JANUARY 22ND EASTSIDE SOLID WASTE COLLECTION WILL BE PICKED UP WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23RD RECYCLABLES WILL BE PICKED UP THURSDAY - JANUARY 24TH YARD WASTE WILL BE PICKED UP FRIDAY, JANUARY 25TH WESTSIDE SOLID WASTE COLLECTION WILL BE PICKED UP '4'; toe Watemoien ts a dean musical comedy that takes a unique took at life, wort, kids, husbands, wives, travel, technology, and trying to balance it afl. This smart comedy features broadway caliber actors with phenomenal weals, ft won the 2009 Spotlight Award and has received many rave reviews for its retatability aftd'MBant writing.' This show is rated P611, Patents pleas# accompany alt children under U years. $25 AT DOOR r ’ : fs yrm i-,r_Vl,'y.- Ff . W «P % '7& ■ : , ■ !;■■■■■. C (■ r~l v‘i / jj > ,*. - iiyw ■>'• ■-'■*%:: * ; patients have flu-like symp toms. Sentara Healthcare facilities have seen from 300 to 600 people each day seeking treatment for flu related illnesses. On Wednesday, Sentara and the region’s other five health networks is sued a rare joint state ment “strongly” recom mending that all patients and visitors wear a mask upon entering hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, urgent care centers and branch clinics. The masks are available at the entrances. Van Sciver said North Carolina does not require hospitals to mandate masks be worn by visitors and pa tients, although hospitals can choose to do so on then own. So far, Albemarle Hos pital hasn’t urged use of masks. Rather, staff are following “standard pre cautions — our normal infection prevention steps we take with every patient at all times,” according to Bonnie Day Greene, the hospital’s infection preven tion specialist That means washing hands with a hand sanitiz er each time they enter and leave a patient room, and wearing protective gloves if there is a potential for contact with bodily fluids. “If a patient is suspected to have influenza, we im plement droplet isolation precautions, which means anyone entering a room must wear a mask, and a patient must wear a mask if they need to be moved out of the room,” Day Greene said. Stands containing masks, tissues and hand sanitizer are at each hospi tal entrance, she said. “We do ask that anyone who is not feeling well not come to the hospital to visit someone but are not re stricting visitation at this time,” she said. Albemarle Regional Health Services, which represents 12 counties in northeastern North Caro lina, asks patients who are coughing or sneezing to wear a mask when visiting clinics, but visitation is not restricted. “Current rates are simi lar to what we see during flu season, which typically occurs in our area around January or February,” said ARHS spokeswoman Ash ley Stoop. “This increase in activity began in Decem ber Fortunately, our rates are not as high as what we are seeing statewide, but these have not yet started to trend downward, so it is possible that we have not reached our true peak." Meanwhile, local school nurses are not seeing any abnormal rises in absentee ism, according to Linwood Williams, superintendent of Elizabeth City-Pasquo tank Public Schools. “We are monitoring the situation and will continue to work closely with Al bemarle Regional Health Services as always,” he said. “We do recognize that flu season is upon us an<^ encourage parents to not send their children to school if they are sick or have a fever. Officials say the truest way to measure the flu is through testing and diag nosis. Statewide there were 282 positive influenza re sults for the week ending Jan. 5, out of 501 patients who reported flu-like symp toms. A person may have some of the symptoms, but not all. Symptoms include fe ver, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, mus cle aches, chills and some times vomiting and diar rhea. District-wide, Perqui mans County. Schools had an absenteeism rate of 7.5 percent on Jan. 2, with 135 students out of 1,798 absent. The rate slowly de clined over the next seven school days to 4.4 percent on Friday, with 80 students out of 1,806 being out. Meanwhile, area nurs ing homes are reporting no problems, although Sentara Nursing tenter Currituck is following its parent company’s guide lines “strongly encourag ing” visitors to wear masks to protect the elderly resi dents, most of whom have had flu shots. “Fortunately, we have no cases of flu here,” said Julia Fretwell, Sentara Nursing Center Currituck administrator. Brian Health Center and Rehab in Hertford, Chowan River Nursing and Rehab and Carolina House in Elizabeth City all reported no problems with the flu. “Fortunately we do not have it now, knock on wood," a Carolina House employee said. The good news is vac cines are efficient this year, and the supply put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention matches the predominant Strain circulating, the H3N2 Influenza A virus. Van Sciver said some local doctor’s offices and stores that offer the shot may need to re-order from time to time. Walgreens in Elizabeth. City ran out of vaccines on Wednesday, but a new batch was on the way Todd’s Pharmacy in Eliza beth City offers shots and has an adequate supply Farm Fresh reported run ning low on supply and will need to re-order soon. Pharmacists said people can call ahead to see if shots are available. Stoops said it takes about two weeks for the flu vac cine to build antibodies in a person’s system to offer full protection. / Nationwide, some ar eas seem to be worse than others. Earlier this week, Boston, declared a public health emergency as Mas sachusetts reported 18 flu related deaths so far. The city had 700 confirmed cas es of the flu, compared to 70 all of last season. The CDC reported cases of flu in 47 states and the percentage of people going to the hos pital for treatment of flu symptoms having doubled in the past month, v , * , f
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Jan. 16, 2013, edition 1
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