While many local businesses report some absences of employees do to seasonal illness, the flu season hasn't reached a peak yet.
Missouri had only 14 influenza cases reported during the last week of 2008, said Eden Dietle, communicable diseases surveillance manager for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Those cases were spread throughout the state with no clusters, Ms. Dietle said.
Typically -- and that is what the flu season is shaping up to be -- the peak for influenza cases is sometime in early February, she said. Of the seven states surrounding Missouri, only Illinois is reporting a cluster of flu cases at this time.
People should know that it's not too late to get a vaccination, said Nancy Taylor, a spokeswoman for the St. Joseph/Buchanan County Health Department.
The rate for stomach illnesses is a little above what has occurred in the last five years, Ms. Dietle said, but there is no huge increase.
The best thing people can do is stay home if they have a fever, Ms. Taylor said. People who have no symptoms right now should wash their hands often, not cough in their hands, use disposable handkerchiefs, eat a healthy diet and get plenty of rest, she said.
If someone is coming down with symptoms, there are anti-viral medications that can mitigate the intensity of an illness if you get medical intervention right away. Doctors can do rapid tests if a viral indicator is discovered.
Frequently, a medication administered within the first couple of days of the illness will lesson the severity, Ms. Dietle said.
In the meantime, professionals already are working on identifying the most likely flu strains for next year's vaccinations. The determination has to be made early on if sufficient quantities of vaccines are to be available next fall.
For anyone who wants to follow the flu season as it progresses during the next three months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains a Web site at www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/.
Marshall White can be reached
at marshall@npgco.com. To see more of the St. Joseph News-Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stjoenews-press.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.