Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 12, 1993 TAG: 9309120012
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
Stunned by outbreaks last month in Louisiana, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is searching for signs of the harsh Beijing flu.
"No one would think about influenza in August - that's absurd," said Nancy Arden, chief of influenza epidemiology for the CDC. "But it happened in Louisiana, so it's reasonable to look for it elsewhere."
The flu season usually begins in October, but outbreaks usually don't occur until December and January.
But in Louisiana, a new strain of Beijing flu caused outbreaks in a nursing home and on a dredging barge, sickening at least 85 people last month.
Respiratory illnesses are common in the summer and fall, but the CDC is telling doctors and clinics across the country to start testing those patients for flu now.
So far, the agency hasn't found any other pockets of the illness. Federal health officials aren't taking any chances. Last year's flu season was mild, so the United States is due for a bad season.
Also, flu strains mutate every year, meaning people who got the flu one year probably won't have any natural immunity to the strain hitting the next year.
"It's very hard to predict flu because it changes so rapidly," Arden said. "But we can expect it will be a more severe season."
There are several types of flu. Type B, which predominated last year, is mild and typically hits children and young adults.
Type A flu, which caused an epidemic in the United States in 1991, is the harshest, and is often deadly to the elderly and very young children. Beijing is the worst strain of Type A.
But don't rush out to get a flu shot yet.
Get it before October and your protection might wane midway through the season. Only if doctors find the flu is hitting other states besides Louisiana will they call for early vaccinations. They should know in about a week.
The Beijing flu made a brief but fierce appearance at the tail end of last year's flu season. It caused outbreaks of illness in nursing homes along the East Coast as late as May - two months after influenza usually abates.
This new strain also caused most of the flu in Australia this summer.
Flu generally kills 10,000 Americans every year. The elderly and people with chronic heart or lung problems or immune deficiencies are most at risk.
by CNB