By ANNETTE WELLS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Under a microscope, the influenza virus is a circular bacteria
surrounded by little spikes.
Out in the open, it kills roughly 30,000 people each year in the
United States and leaves the rest of its targets sneezing, coughing,
aching all over and with a high fever.
This bug has hit Clark County.
On Thursday, the Southern Nevada Health District reported the
county's first laboratory-confirmed influenza case. And though it is
just one case, health officials are warning residents not to be
complacent. One case means the flu is airborne and it is circulating
locally.
Dr. Jeff Davidson, director of emergency medicine at Valley
Hospital Medical Center, said he's already seeing an increase in
traffic at Valley Hospital Medical Center. Patients are coming in
with flu-like symptoms as well as upper and lower respiratory
problems.
"We're just starting to see it. Not strange considering all the
wind and cold we've had the past few days," Davidson said. "Patients
are wheezing. They're coughing, sneezing and have general body aches
with a fever."
Davidson and public health officials are urging residents to get
their flu vaccines and to maintain personal hygiene such as good old-
fashioned hand washing.
If someone does get sick though, emergency room physicians
suggest staying at home, getting plenty of rest, drinking fluids and
taking over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol if needed.
"If you're too sick to work, too sick to stay home and too sick
to go to your primary care physician, you should go to an emergency
room," Davidson said.
Brian Labus, a health district epidemiologist, said only a small
percentage of individuals with influenza actually seek medical care
so it is always difficult to predict what a flu season will look
like compared to a previous year.
Additionally, he said, an even smaller percentage of people are
tested for the virus because testing doesn't change treatment.
"Flu is a really interesting virus," Labus said. "It sweeps
around the world each year and with all our advances in science and
medicine, we still can't control it. The vaccines are a piece of the
puzzle, but no vaccine is perfect. ...The treatments that we have
can shorten duration, but they can't completely get rid of it."
In Southern Nevada, Labus said the flu typically shows up in
early November. After the holidays, he said, it picks up. It reaches
its peak in late January or early February.
Flu vaccines, which health officials say shouldn't be in short
supply this year, are available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at
these locations:
* Ravenholt Public Health Center, 625 Shadow Lane.
* East Las Vegas Public Health Center, 560 N. Nellis Blvd., Suite
E12.
* Henderson Public Health Center, 520 E. Lake Mead Parkway.
* North Las Vegas Public Health Center, 1820 E. Lake Mead Blvd.,
Suite F.
* Spring Valley Public Health Center, 6330 W. Spring Mountain
Road, Suite C.
to learn more
For information on flu vaccines, call 759-0850 or go to
www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org.
Contact reporter Annette Wells at awells@reviewjournal.com or 702-
383-0283.
(C) 2008 The Las Vegas Review-Journal. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved