Louisiana leads US in flu cases
Published 7:00 pm Saturday, November 16, 2019
If you haven’t already gotten a flu shot, don’t delay any further. The Centers for Disease Control recently reported that Louisiana leads the nation in flu cases.
While the rest of the country is reporting low numbers, Louisiana stands out for its high number of cases, particularly in New Orleans.
In the most current report, for the week ending Nov. 2, the state was rated as having widespread flu cases. Southwest Louisiana was rated has having a low number of cases while the New Orleans area had the highest rate.
The Louisiana Department of Health recommends flu vaccination, particularly for people at high risk for serious flu-related complications and their close contacts, including infants, pregnant women, kids and adults with chronic medical conditions like asthma, diabetes ore heart disease and adults ages 65 and older.
Health officials also urges people to take everyday preventative actions, such as cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and throw the issue away after using it.
It also recommends staying home from work or school when sick; wash your hands often with soap and water, particularly if you’ve coughed or sneezed; and try not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth.
The flu season, which usually begins in late October, got off to an early start in Louisiana with reports of flu-like symptoms in September.
By the week of Oct. 12 about 4.6 percent of patients went to the doctor presenting flu-like symptoms, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
As of the last CDC report, Louisiana is the only state in the nation that has widespread reports of cases of the flu.
“Louisiana’s baseline vaccination rate is very low. Flu seasons are highly unpredictable but if turns out this is a bad one, we have our work cut out for us,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, the assistant state health officer for the Louisiana Department of Health.
The message from the CDC and LDH is clear, get your flu shot and take preventative measures to protect yourself or, if sick, spreading the flu to others.
