The flu has arrived in Clark County — and it came a little early.
Flu activity increased countywide at the end of October, and this week, PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center is reporting a big jump in positive flu tests.
“In the past two weeks we’ve seen a spike in positive results for influenza,” said Catherine Kroll, infection prevention specialist at PeaceHealth Southwest, in a news release. “We’ve gone from a baseline of zero confirmed cases to our current level of about 50 percent positive for those admitted to the hospital.”
For the week ending Oct. 29, more than 10 percent of influenza tests in Clark County came back positive — a threshold health officials use to determine when flu transmission is occurring in the community. That week, 12.8 percent of tests came back positive. The following week, which is the most recent county data available, Clark County had a flu test positivity rate of nearly 7 percent.
The flu strain sickening people locally appears to be mainly influenza A virus — a strain included in this year’s flu shot.
The increase in positive flu tests means PeaceHealth Southwest is implementing patient and visitor restrictions.
The hospital asks that nobody who is sick — fever greater than 100 degrees, plus cough or sore throat — visit patients. In addition, the number of visitors should be limited to two family members.
In hospital special care units — adult intensive care unit, cardiovascular intensive care unit, family birth center and neonatal intensive care units — additional limitations are in place. In those units, visitors must be 12 or older (except for siblings) and immediate family members (children and significant others). Some units may also implement visiting hour restrictions.
In addition, beginning Nov. 21, all staff or volunteers who have not received a flu vaccine will be required to wear masks in patient care areas.
Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center has not yet implemented visitor restrictions, but hospital officials are continue to monitor flu activity at the hospital and in the community.
Off to an early start
This is the earliest local influenza circulation has crossed the 10-percent positivity rate in the last several years.
Last year, flu circulation didn’t pick up until mid-January. The 2015-16 flu season lasted about 17 weeks, with activity peaking in early April.
The three prior years, the seasonal flu was circulating Clark County in early- to mid-December and continued to circulate for about three months.
With the flu virus now circulating, health officials are urging people who haven’t yet received their flu shot to get vaccinated.
“It’s not too late to get your flu shot,” Kroll said in the news release. “Although it takes a few weeks after the vaccination for your body to build up full immunity, getting your shot now will give you and your family protection throughout the coming holiday season and beyond.”
