LIHUE — Influenza is widespread through every state except Hawaii, although the season hasn’t officially peaked here yet due to the islands’ geographic isolation.
“It’s not uncommon for Hawaii’s flu season to be later than the Mainland, so our peak often lags a little bit behind,” said Janet Berreman, Kauai district health officer for the Department of Health. “This is a particularly intense flu season this year, so I don’t think we should rest assured that Hawaii isn’t going to be experiencing that.”
“It is extra important, as it always is, for people to get their influenza vaccine,” she said. “If they haven’t gotten it, it’s not too late in the season to do so.”
According to the DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division’s most recent Influenza Surveillance Report, there have been 21 clusters of influenza-like illnesses reported in Hawaii between Dec. 17 and Dec. 23.
An update Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows patient traffic for flu is no longer skyrocketing the way it was in December.
“It looks like it’s starting to level out,” said the CDC’s Lynnette Brammer, who oversees flu tracking.
Still, flu is unpredictable.
“I don’t know where it will end up,” she added.
Many flu seasons don’t really get going until around Christmas and don’t crescendo until February. That’s how last year’s flu season played out. This season got off to an early start and cases surged over the holidays.
What had some people worried about this U.S. flu season was the bad season last year in Australia. That country was hit hard by a flu bug that’s notorious for causing severe illness, and flu viruses spread around the world. Preliminary estimates suggested the vaccine barely worked there, and the U.S. was again facing the same H3N2 virus with the same flu shot.
That virus caused one of the worst U.S. flu seasons in recent years, 2014-15, when the vaccine was a poor match. It was back last winter, but the vaccine was a better fit.
Health officials say this year’s shot targets the strains that are making Americans sick, primarily H3N2. How well it is working won’t be known until next month, but it’s expected to be better than the 10 percent Australia reported. It’s recommended for everybody older than six months of age.
“Because this appears to be a particularly bad year, it’s just really, really important that everybody get immunized,” Berreman said. “If you get the vaccine and keep yourself from getting sick, you’re doing a service to everybody that you come in contact with.”
The most recent report shows flu and pneumonia deaths crept up last week to push flu to an epidemic level. Flu reaches that threshold most winters, even during seasons that are not considered particularly bad.
Hospitalizations of the elderly are climbing. So far they’re not shooting up quite like they did in 2014-15, but health officials are watching the numbers closely.
The CDC estimates there are tens of thousands of deaths each year from flu and pneumonia.
To help avoid the spread of illness, people are encouraged to wash hands regularly, stay home when they’re sick, and keep distance from people who are obviously sick.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
