More than 50 now dead from flu in Georgia, including more young people

This year's ferocious flu season has now claimed the lives of more than 50 people in Georgia and resulted in more than 1,000 hospitalizations in the metro-Atlanta area alone, according to the latest data released from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

At this point in the season a year ago, only 332 people had been hospitalized from flu in Georgia, and only two people had died, both over 65 years old.

For most of the season, nearly all deaths in the state were in those aged 65 and older, as the flu is more deadly toward those with weakened immune systems such as the very young, sick or elderly.

But in the last week, more young people have died as well, including one 15-year-old in Coweta County and at least seven people between ages 18 and 51.

The Centers for Disease Control also reported that more than 50 children have been killed as a result of the flu across the country.

So is this the peak? It doesn't look like it.

The CDC called this "the most severe season in recent years" and added that it is now the most severe since the 2009 pandemic of swine flu. Plus, the agency said it expects flu activity to remain high for at least another several weeks.

One of the best ways to measure how many people are getting the flu is by looking at the percentage of people who go to doctors' offices for flu-like symptoms.

The normal rate is about 2 percent. Nationwide, it is now more that triple that, to more than 7 percent.

In Georgia, it was an astounding seven times the normal rate, to more than 14 percent of outpatient visits.

“Flu is something we face every year,” said Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. J. Patrick O’Neal at a press conference. “It’s not the common cold. It’s something to be reckoned with. It’s terribly important for the public to understand that the best protection we have is the seasonal flu shot.”

O’Neal said it was difficult to predict how effective the flu shot is while the season is occurring but said even if it isn’t perfect, it will still provide protection from other strains of the flu and could moderate some of the symptoms of a strain that isn’t completely prevented.

It's not too late, either. Flu season is expected to last until as long as May, so there's a lot of time left for the shot to do its work.

O'neal added there were some other ways to prevent the flu from spreading, “those simple things that our grandmothers and mothers try to teach us,” like covering a sneeze and avoiding wiping your eyes and nose without washing your hands.

The commissioner also said antiviral drugs should be started within the first few days of illness to prevent the sickness from developing, and to prevent other opportunistic bugs from getting in and wreaking havoc while you're already sick.

That's a big issue with so many medical facilities overbooked and straining to handle the load of patients presenting with flu.

Hospitals have tried a few different ways of coping, including by restricting access for visitors who are showing signs of the flu. Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta even brought in a temporary, mobile emergency center to help deal with the overload.

"This is a season that has a lot more steam than we thought," Dr. Dan Jernigan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Associated Press. Jernigan told the New York Times health officials expect to see numbers similar to those from the 2014-2015 flu season, when 710,000 American were hospitalized and about 56,000 people died, including nearly 150 children.

School officials are also urging parents and students to heed official warnings and stay home if they are showing sings of illness.

Flu symptoms can include some or all of the following:

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches Fatigue (tiredness)
• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, although this is more common in children than adults

Here are ways the Alabama Department of Public Health says you can prevent the flu:

• Get flu vaccine; it is not too late
• Stay at home if you have a fever
• Wash your hands
• Cover your cough and sneeze
• Clean and disinfect

You can also click here to learn more about how to tell the difference between the flu and a less serious illness like a common cold.

This story was originally published February 5, 2018 at 7:38 AM with the headline "More than 50 now dead from flu in Georgia, including more young people."