Ohio Flu activity increased to ‘Regional’

The Ohio Depart­ment of Health offi­cially describes flu as “Regional” mean­ing influenza activ­ity is being reported in mul­ti­ple areas across the state.

“Unlike the cold viruses that are spread­ing out there, you can do some­thing about the flu. You can pro­tect your­self by get­ting a flu shot. We encour­age every­one to get one. It’s time to do it if you haven’t already, espe­cially with hol­i­day par­ties and fam­ily gath­er­ings com­ing soon”, said Joyce Rich­mond R.N., the Delaware Gen­eral Health District’s Direc­tor of Nursing.

The Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion rec­om­mend flu shots for every­one aged six months or older.

Accord­ing to Ms. Rich­mond, increas­ing num­bers of peo­ple are get­ting flu-like ill­nesses. The season’s first case of flu in Delaware County was reported in Octo­ber. Since then, mul­ti­ple pos­i­tive flu labs have been reported, includ­ing the first case of influenza asso­ci­ated with hos­pi­tal­iza­tion. Mean­while, the last two weeks have seen an increase locally in emer­gency room and pedi­atric urgent care patients com­plain­ing of flu-like symp­toms. Over-the-counter sales of cough and cold med­ica­tions and throat lozenges in this area have also increased in recent weeks.

The Delaware Gen­eral Health Dis­trict Clinic at 3 West Win­ter Street in down­town Delaware has Quick Flu Clin­ics sched­uled every Wednes­day morn­ing from 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon through Decem­ber. Flu shots also are offered at Adult Walk-In Clin­ics every week­day from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the same loca­tion, and at all reg­u­larly sched­uled adult and child­hood immu­niza­tion clin­ics at “DGHD In Your Neigh­bor­hood” locations.

Phone the clinic at 740–203-2040 or go to < www.delawarehealth.org > for sched­uled or appointments.

Delaware Gen­eral Health Dis­trict flu clin­ics offer Flu­zone High Dose vac­cine to provide

extra pro­tec­tion to per­sons 65 and older, in addi­tion to the reg­u­lar sea­sonal flu shot. Also

avail­able is Flu Mist nasal spray vac­cine for healthy per­sons aged 2 to 49.

Pneu­mo­nia shots are rec­om­mended for per­sons over 65 who have not received them

already, younger per­sons with chronic health con­di­tions as well as smokers.

The DGHD accepts most pri­vate insur­ance plans for flu immu­niza­tions as well as

Med­ic­aid, Medicare and Medicare Man­aged Care Plans. Flu shots cost $10 for chil­dren through age 18 and $20 for adults. Flu Mist costs $10 for chil­dren and $30 for adults. A slid­ing fee scale is avail­able that may reduce the cost.

Posted by Gary Henery on Dec 5 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.