CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is seeing a mild flu season so far.
Flu cases in West Virginia are considered “sporadic” at this point, according to information from the state Department of Health and Human Resources’ Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services which reports West Virginia’s flu activity to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each week.
“Sporadic” is defined as “small numbers of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases or a single laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreak has been reported, but there is no increase in cases of ILI (influenza like illnesses).”
Nationally, “The CDC is starting to report increases in flu activity, so we may just be getting a late flu season,” said Dr. Julia Ellison, area medical director for MedExpress in Charleston.
Ellison likened getting the flu to feeling like “being hit by a truck.”
Symptoms include, “Typically, high fever, very severe aches and pains, chills, moderate to severe fatigue or tiredness. The onset is very sudden, (there’s) dry cough, headaches, but not typically sneezing or stuffy nose,” she explained.
“You feel awful. It’s really hard to underemphasize that, but just a cold is more mild symptoms.”
For those experiencing flu-like symptoms, “It’s best to seek medical attention right away because the antiviral medicines that we use, such as Tamiflu, are only really effective in the first 48 hours of symptoms,” Ellison advised.
Her company, MedExpress Urgent Care, is a walk-in medical care provider with more than 150 locations in 14 states including West Virginia.
Of those states, West Virginia is showing the highest ILI rates, but Ellison told MetroNews the increase in flu cases is only “very slight.”
Flu outbreaks can happen as early as October and as late as May.
Earlier this month, the CDC issued the following health alert to physicians about reported increases of flu cases across the U.S.: “Some localized areas of the United States are already experiencing high activity, [and] further increases are expected in the coming weeks,” the CDC said.
The most common flu strain now circulating is H1N1, CDC information indicated, the same strain of flu that caused the 2009 pandemic.