STAFF REPORT
Just weeks after a first strain of influenza swept through the area and shorted the availability of hospital beds and staff, a second strain is spreading.
Mount Ascutney Hospital CEO Joseph Perras said he’s seen an uptick in cases after flu cases were starting to die down.
This strain of flu, called H1N1, is less severe than the previous H3N2, health officials say.
Perras said in a statement the uptick in recent cases hasn’t impacted beds or hospital staff.
The peak of the flu was around January. This flu season was more severe than it had been in a decade, officials say.
“We’ve been very busy since the season started,” said Blythe Kersula, the infection prevention nurse for Springfield Medical Care Systems.
“The past couple years have not been this bad,” she said, comparing this season to 2009 — an “epidemic year.”
“There was a lot of upper respiratory stuff going around,” she said.
Springfield has about 25 beds. Kersula wasn’t sure how many cases of the flu the hospital saw.
Health officials said this year’s flu shot was only about 30 percent effective at preventing illness, which was part of the reason for the severity in cases.
“It was a bad season,” said New Hampshire Department of Health Communications and Human Services Director Jake Leon.
“But activity is decreasing,” he said.
Attempts to reach Valley Regional Hospital spokesperson Robin Caissie weren’t successful.
There were about 30 outbreaks reported in Vermont schools the last week of March, according to a weekly flu report from the Vermont Department of Health.
An influenza case is defined as a fever of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit and cough or sore throat without a known cause other than influenza.
No flu-associated pediatric deaths have been reported in Vermont this season.
There were 22 deaths caused by the influenza in Vermont from Sept. 1 2017 and April 9, 2018 in preliminary data, according to Truman.
Vermont Department of Health Communications Officer Bennett Truman said flu cases in Vermont started later than other parts of the country and it is continuing later.
Truman said it’s not too late to get a flu shot. Those most at risk are children and adults over age 65. Truman said it take about two weeks until the shot is effective.
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