In no other September in recent history has Arizona experienced such widespread influenza, Arizona Department of Health Services spokeswoman Laura Oxley said Friday.
The current flu outbreak is entirely due to the H1N1 virus, which never really went away after making its first appearance in the spring, she said. Health officials are bracing for the possibility that the 2009 H1N1 strain, as doctors are calling it, will clog hospitals, doctors' offices and urgent-care clinics this fall.
Oxley said there haven't been any confirmed seasonal flu cases since the spring. Typically, flu season does not begin until late November or early December.
Arizona has recorded 21 confirmed deaths from H1N1, also called swine flu, since the spring, including two in Pima County. All of the patients who died had other underlying health conditions, Oxley said.
Seasonal flu shots already are being offered at clinics around town, including at local Walgreens drugstores. H1N1 vaccines are expected to be rolled out beginning in October.
Some people need to consult a physician before they are vaccinated, including anyone who has a severe allergy to chicken eggs. And people with a moderate or severe illness with a fever should wait to be vaccinated until their symptoms lessen.
Influenza is circulating unusually early this year, with cases in all 50 states -- nearly all the swine flu variety, government health officials told The Associated Press on Friday. The highest concentration of flu cases is in the Southeast and a few other states, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a briefing. Cases are mainly occurring in children and young adults, Schuchat said.
The finding that the swine flu vaccine works in a single dose in healthy adults "shortens the window of worry," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. "There's no better protection against the flu than vaccine."
First on the list for the swine flu shots are children and young adults, pregnant women and others with health problems, since the H1N1 flu seems to strike them more often. Older people are more at risk from the regular seasonal flu and -- along with other people -- should get those shots now, Sebelius said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. To see more of The Arizona Daily Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.azstarnet.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson 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, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson