EDITOR’S NOTE: The location of the Clallam County Health Department’s immunization clinic has been corrected in this report.
PORT ANGELES — The flu: It’s here, it’s early and it’s changing faces.
Yet worse awaits.
Influenza A subtype H3N2 — which the current flu vaccine protects against — has “drifted” into strains for which most people have no immunity, including with the current vaccine, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga.
“There are some concerns that the vaccine may not be as effective against one of the strains of H3N2, so we may see more cases among people even if they were vaccinated,” Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, said Friday.
Olympic Medical Center reports it has admitted patients with influenza, although it could not cite exact numbers.
No influenza admission figures were available from Jefferson Healthcare hospital.
Since Dec. 17, however, 15 people had tested positive for influenza in Clallam County, 13 of them for the A strain and two for the B subtype, said Iva Burks, county Health and Human Services director.
Burks said Friday that since the department had started tracking the flu last month, 27 people had tested positive for influenza A or B, ranging from 5 to 84 years old.
“That’s not a huge number,” she said.
“This is the time of the year that we expect it to pick up. The kids are home [from school] and the older folks are starting to get it.
“People come home for the holidays and bring the flu bugs home with them.”
In Jefferson County, no statistics were available for later than Dec. 6, when Jefferson County Public Health had reported six positive tests, all for influenza B, during the preceding four weeks.
“They’ve all been influenza B whereas statewide only about 15 percent of the influenza cases have been influenza B and 85 percent have been influenza A,” Locke said.
In Washington state, each variety has claimed one life as of last week, he said.
“We’re seeing activity increasing all over the state,” he said. “We’ve seen the number of virus culture tests jump from 8 percent to 15 percent positive.
“When those numbers get above 10 percent — especially when they get to 20 or above — then we’re deep into the flu season that will peak in mid-January.
According to tests at Jefferson Healthcare, 12 other people were tested but proved negative for the two strains monitored by the CDC.
Those people probably had what in layman’s language would be called colds, said Julia Danskin, public health manager.
Jefferson County’s figures probably will climb, she said.
“Families have traveled; there’s big malls going on with super sales,” Danskin said.
“The good news is that school is out, so it’s not being transmitted in schools at this time,” Danskin said.
This year, according to the federal CDC, flu already was widespread across Washington state a week ago, more so than in its neighboring states but similar to most of the nation east of the Mississippi River.
“In North America, the levels of influenza activity continued to increase and have passed the seasonal thresholds,” the World Health Organization announced earlier this month.
The fact that the flu virus has, in some cases, mutated is especially bad news for elderly people, the very young and those with impaired immune systems, although they can fall back on prescription antiviral drugs that can reduce the flu’s effects.
On the North Olympic Peninsula, “we normally peak in January to early March,” Burks said, “so we would expect increasing numbers.”
That means a flu shot still could save you from the seasonal illness, she said.
“It’s not too late because we haven’t peaked yet. It takes six weeks for full immunization,” Burks said.
The CDC recommends a shot or nasal spray of vaccine for anyone over 6 month old.
“While they’re going out to get their New Year’s celebration stuff,” said Burks, “they should get their flu shot.”
Danskin also urged people to get vaccinations and particularly to avoid exposing elderly people, infants, pregnant women and persons with weak immune systems to places they might catch the flu.
“The virus that’s going through could be a little harder on people,” she said.
Vaccinations are available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays at the Clallam County Health Department, 111 E. Third St., Suite 1A, Port Angeles.
Walk-in immunizations are available from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan St., Port Townsend.
Many OMC and Jefferson Healthcare clinics and private providers also offer flu shots, as do some pharmacies.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
