Flathead continues to fight deadly flu season

Flathead County continues to battle a particularly nasty flu season as the government confirms that the vaccine is less effective than hoped.

The county has documented just short of 700 cases of the flu this season, said Lisa Dennison of the Flathead City-County Health Department at the county Board of Health meeting on Wednesday. That’s up from the 300 confirmed cases the department reported to county commissioners in mid-January.

Dennison also informed the board that there have been 20 hospitalizations in the month of February so far. She characterized the hospitalized cases as a “mixed bag” of vaccinated and unvaccinated patients.

The report comes on the heels of an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that downgraded the flu vaccine’s efficacy rate against the worst strains from 36 percent to 25 percent.

Unfortunately, that more serious strain — known as the Influenza A strain, or H3N2 — has been the predominant strain this season, according to yesterday’s CDC report. H3N2’s ability to change quickly makes it less susceptible to vaccinations, leading to one of the worst flu seasons in years.

Board member Dr. P. David Myerowitz noted that despite the vaccine’s shortcomings against this year’s flu strains, there is evidence suggesting that people over age 65 who have routinely recevied vaccines experience fewer flu-related hospitalizations than those who do not. “It’s possible that repeated dozes to your immunological system may actually provide some longterm benefit,” he said.

Dennison also pointed out that the Flathead has seen more of the less-deadly influenza B strain lately. “We are starting to see an increase in the influenza B strain so hopefully that will help [with the hospitalizations],” she said.

Reporter Adrian Horton can be reached at ahorton@dailyinterlake.com or at 758-4439.