DENVER – Health officials warn that Colorado is in the throes of one of the worst flu seasons since 2009, but there is still plenty of vaccine available.
State epidemiologist Lisa Miller said the number of hospitalizations has jumped to 448 this flu season, more than 50 cases higher than this time last year. A large number of those hospitalized are young adults.
“It is concerning. We are seeing a lot of people ill already,” Miller said.
Joe Fowler, an epidemiologist at San Juan Basin Health Department in Durango, said La Plata and Archuleta counties have reported six cases, compared with none at this time a year ago.
“But don’t read too much into numbers,” Fowler said. “Flu can strike anytime, and we had five cases by the end of April 2013.”
The number of cases refers to hospitalizations, Fowler said.
The dominant flu this year is the H1N1, which first laid thousands low in a 2009 pandemic, Fowler said.
“Flu is serious anytime,” Fowler said. “It can cause hospitalization and death.”
Also troubling to doctors is the ages of those affected.
“Typically, we see the very highest rates among the very young and very old,” Miller said.
This year, people aged 25 to 64 make up 57 percent of all cases, a huge increase compared with last year when they accounted for only 30 percent of cases.
Miller concurred that this year’s strain of flu is similar to the one doctors saw in 2009.
“That’s when we had our pandemic. We had a lot of illness because that was the first time it had been seen,” Miller said.
The World Health Organization estimates that flu causes 3 million to 5 million cases of severe illness around the globe every year. It says about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths result, primarily among the elderly and the chronically ill.
Colorado officials say it is not too late to get a flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says influenza season can last into May.
Herald Staff Writer Dale Rodebaugh and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
