Idaho Health Officials To Track Flu Season Will Use Death Certificates, School Absentees Instead Of Anecdotes To Gauge Severity

For the first time, Idaho public health officials will use death certificates and school absentee rates to help gauge the flu season’s severity.

State epidemiologist Dr. Jesse Greenblatt wants to find out when the flu season is starting, the best time to get immunized and the scope of this year’s outbreak.

“We’re expecting Influenza A to be particularly bad this year, thanks to a nasty new strain called Nanchung A that was a late addition to this year’s flu shot,” said infectious disease specialist Dr. Steven R. Mostow, chairman of the Department of Medicine at Rose Medical Center in Denver.

In the past, Idaho health officials tried to track the flu mainly through anecdotal reports of illness and the doctors who sent patients’ respiratory secretions to a state laboratory for testing.

“We’re trying to beef up our surveillance a little bit,” Greenblatt said. The change is recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Now, no one is sure how many Idaho residents get ill or die each year from influenza. Most victims are ill only a few days with fever, chills, cough, body aches and pains.

But nationwide, 10,000 to 40,000 people die each year of pneumonia and other complications from influenza, which is caused by a highly infectious virus.

Although anyone 6 months or older can receive a flu shot, vaccinations are recommended only for people at high risk of serious complications. That includes anyone with heart trouble, lung problems or other chronic illnesses.

Idaho residents at moderate risk include healthy people 65 or older and patients who, during the past year, have regularly seen a doctor for treatment of such diseases as cystic fibrosis, diabetes or anemia.

During last year’s flu season, 75 cases of influenza, all type A, were confirmed in Idaho. But that number is likely a tiny percentage of the total outbreak.

The flu hit early last year, with the first case confirmed in November, said state virologist Roy Moulton.

“Last year was very unusual,” he said. “We usually don’t see activity until mid-December.”

Flu usually peaks in Idaho in January.