Texas sees deadliest flu season in nine years

AUSTIN—More than 4,000 Texans have died of the flu this season so far even though experts say the season is only half-over.

“Influenza activity is high across the United States and in Texas,” Dr. John Hellerstedt said during the Health and Human Services Commission Executive Council Meeting on Feb. 22. “It is too early to tell if influenza has peaked for the season in Texas.”

Dr. Hellerstedt, Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, updated the Council on the influenza activity present across the state and in Travis County.

He said that 4,153 Texans, including six children, have died of the flu this season, making this the worst outbreak of influenza activity in the state in nine years. The Austin Public Health Department reported that in Travis County, 42 people have died of influenza-related causes.

University of Texas sophomore psychology major Molly Neale knows firsthand how bad this year’s flu season is. During this school year, she contracted the flu twice, one strain in September and then a different strain in February. Her symptoms became so bad that the Liberal Arts Honors and Bridging Disciplines student was forced to withdraw from the fall semester. Neale shared that her symptoms were manageable at first but quickly escalated in severity.

“For me, it would build up over time. The first couple of days I’d just feel not great, and then I’d wake up one morning in a cold sweat,” Neale said. “You feel like you can’t move, and it’s just terrible. It really does feel like you’re going to die, and then you know you have the flu.”

Neale said that in addition to high fevers, cold sweats, and fatigue, she also experienced episodes where she temporarily lost her sight and almost fainted.

“I was really hot all the time and really flustered,” Neale said. “But I started to get this thing where I stopped being able to see, almost to the point of passing out.”

This flu season has witnessed the rise of a new flu strain, what experts call H3N2. According to the Austin Public Health Department, the H3N2 strain is the most predominant form of influenza circulating in Texas right now.

Epidemiology Program Manager for the Austin Public Health Department, Jeffery P. Taylor, MPH, said that this new H3N2 strain may be to blame for the increased influenza activity as well as the uncommonly severe flu symptoms, like Neale’s, this season.

“The predominant type of influenza virus circulating this season is an A(H3N2) strain. Most public health professionals would agree that A(H3N2) strains are more likely to cause a ‘worse’ season than A(H1N1) or B strains,” Taylor said.

University of Texas Health Services Consumer Education and Outreach Coordinator, Sherry Bell, echoed Taylor’s theory that the new H3N2 strain may be escalating the severity of this year’s flu season.

“We see more serious symptoms, lasting longer and causing more complications. Another reason that H3N2 has been seen in so many people is because it occurs less frequently than other types of influenza viruses, and because it occurs less frequently, fewer people are immune to it,” Bell said. “When the same flu strain shows up year after year, people in those regions tend to develop some immunity to that. It’s (H3N2) a strain that doesn’t show up every year.”

Bell said that seasons with H3 viruses generally drive more patients to University Health Services because the H3N2 virus “kicks the body’s immune system into overdrive.”

According to Bell, this time last year, the University Health Services had diagnosed 256 positive flu cases on campus. The total number of cases for last year’s flu season at the University of Texas was 325. A year later, the University Health Services has already diagnosed 525 positive flu cases on campus, 200 cases more than last year’s total, and the flu season is only at the halfway point.

Because of the increased number of cases and severity of symptoms, Dr. Hellerstedt emphasized the importance of getting the flu vaccine, especially for children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic health conditions.

“We at the Texas Department of State Health Services continue to encourage people to get vaccinated and stress the appropriate precautions about getting the flu,” Hellerstedt said.

He urged council members and Texans to wash their hands frequently and cover their coughs with their elbows and not their hands. Although there have been no pediatric deaths in Travis County, the 42 reported influenza-related deaths of persons 30 years of age or older is enough reason to take precautions according to Dr. Hellerstedt.

“It is absolutely not too late to get a shot. In fact, right now, we’re in the peak of activity. We don’t know if we’re going to have a downturn... The activity here is very high, higher than it’s been in several years,” Hellerstedt said.