Flu season hits hard in N.C.

   Influenza claimed the lives of eight children in North Carolina last month--an amount unusually high for entering January--but officials said there are signs the flu season is past its peak.

   Of the eight children who died from complications involving the flu, three had received vaccination last year. The youngest victim, three months old, was too young to receive a vaccination.

   North Carolina sees 15 pediatric deaths related to influenza and pneumonia on average each year. While the flu outbreak this season is shaping up to be particularly hard-hitting, officials predicted the outbreak will taper off into a more normal flu season.

   "The evidence we have thus far, looking internationally and looking to states west of [North Carolina] like Colorado and Texas, is that we are hitting this peak and [we are] on our way down," said Dr. Kristina Simeonsson, lead influenza investigator for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. "The number of [doctors'] visits related to influenza symptoms have peaked and are on their way down."

   North Carolina has had a slightly higher occurrence of influenza than other states in the region, although for the most part it has kept pace with national averages.

   The symptoms associated with this season's influenza strain have been similar to those seen in the past--high fever, body ache, fatigue and a variety of respiratory symptoms like sore throat.

   Because influenza attacks the respiratory lining, the virus often increases susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections making it particularly dangerous for young children and individuals who have compromised immune systems, like HIV/AIDS and cancer patients.

   Although many adults fall into the high risk category for developing complications related to influenza, NCDHHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not have an active surveillance system for monitoring the influenza-related deaths for adults, and the death toll is determined retroactively at the end of the year.

   North Carolina's immunization program does not entail mass vaccinations for influenza but does provide flu vaccines for high risk individuals free of charge. That category includes pregnant mothers 18 years of age and younger in their second or third trimester and individuals with compromised immune systems.

   Due to changes in the definition of the high risk category, NCDHHS quadrupled its order of flu vaccination doses to 120,000 doses, up from 30,000 in 2002; officials increased the order to accommodate the inclusion of all children between 6 and 23 months old. But the higher order still could not meet the demand created by the early season scare, and the state was forced to order more vaccination doses.

   "We have worked as hard as we can to get more vaccines in--we did our best," said Laura Leonard, public information officer for the immunization branch of NCDHHS.

   The early outbreaks caused a national shortage of flu vaccinations. Because vaccinations have relatively short expiration periods, production is carefully monitored, and it remains a huge financial risk to keep large surpluses. Last year CDC and private manufacturers produced over 90 million flu vaccine doses and saw 12 million of those doses go to waste due to lack of demand.