North Carolina Hit Hard By Flu

Dr. Karen Frush Offers Update And Offers Advice

(CBS)  The flu continues to hit hard throughout the country over the holidays. Every state has reported flu cases, and there are now 45 states with widespread flu activity.

One state battling the flu on the front lines is North Carolina. Dr. Karen Frush, director of Pediatric Emergency Services at Duke University Medical Center, visited The Early Show to offer an update.

She tells co-anchor Hannah Storm, “We’ve seen our fair share, that’s for sure. Actually, the majority of the people that we’ve seen in the emergency department at Duke came a couple of weeks ago. We had a large volume of patients, actually had to call in some extra staff to help see them, and over the last week, thankfully, the numbers have gone down a bit.”

This season, the flu is incredibly widespread in North Carolina much earlier than in other years. For most of December, the volume of visits has been at least twice what it usually is. But Dr. Frush says they are hoping for a respite.

“One of the reasons that we think that there has been a little bit of a decrease is because schools are out for the holidays. And when that happens, there is less transmission of any kind of virus -- flu included -- so we were hoping for a respite. We certainly have seen that in the past week, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods for after the holidays.”

The CDC says influenza-like illnesses are increasing overall, but decreasing in some areas (like Texas and Colorado) that were hit hard by the flu early this season. CDC officials have characterized this season's outbreak as a likely epidemic, and are particularly concerned that the outbreak has killed at least 42 children.

The 45 states on the widespread list are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Of the five states where the flu is not widespread, Hawaii has seen only localized outbreaks, while regional outbreaks have been reported in Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma.

The vaccine supply has run out for all but the highest risk patients. New shipments have come in periodically from the CDC, but the demand is so high that it doesn't last long.

Dr. Frush, however, says it doesn’t hurt to ask for the flu vaccine. The very young and very old should come to the emergency room. Six months to one year old are those doctors worry about most. Depending on symptoms and complications, some people can be treated for flu or bacterial infections that can develop. People with underlying health problems should also seek attention.

She says, “Certainly in children, we ask that people avoid aspirin. We ask them to use Tylenol, acetaminophen or ibuprofen and plenty of fluids and lots of rest.”

Dr. Frush notes, “Kids don’t want to drink too much when the fever gets high so if we could stay on top of it and give them medicine for the flu that would help.”

As for adults, she recommends rest and drinking plenty of fluids. The flu makes your heart beat faster and you breathe faster, making your body work harder, which can be difficult for people who are chronically ill. Watch out for very high fever and dehydration.

An important message is that this year's illness carries a high fever. You shouldn't ignore a fever of 104-105 and need to treat if it doesn't respond to over-the-counter medication. And if you don't look better when fever comes down or are having trouble breathing, see your doctor. Try proper doses of anti-fever medicine, acetaminophen, Tylenol, and ibuprofen first to treat for the initial illness.