Flu season gets early start; public health pushes vaccine

A large outbreak hits Texas before many have the opportunity to get their shots.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Nov. 10, 2003.

Like a pesky party guest, the flu bug has arrived on the scene much earlier than expected.

In response, physicians are rushing to immunize as many people as possible -- especially the elderly, people with high-risk medical conditions and health care workers. They are also contemplating how to broaden their message to the general public about the vaccine's importance and about recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The ACIP recommendations for 2004 include very young children for the first time.

Thus far, this year's experience is shaking out differently from recent seasons, and it is causing concern among public health officials. Many flu clinics were not scheduled until the end of October or even November, because of influenza patterns. For instance, even though the recent past has been marred by shortages and delays in vaccine delivery, late-arriving flu bugs mitigated the impact.

This time around, Texas is the first state to report rampant flu virus with a heavy outbreak starting at the beginning of October. Emergency departments have been packed and some schools, closed.

"It's not unusual to have flu occur this early in the season," said Texas Commissioner of Health Eduardo Sanchez, MD. "What's unusual is to have this much of it this early."

Experts are also concerned about angiogenic drift. According to a notice sent out on the CDC's Health Alert Network, about a third of influenza A viruses isolated worldwide have changed genetically from the current strain in the vaccine, although it is unclear whether this will have a clinical impact.