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Flu Hospitalizations on the Rise
TUESDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDayNews) -- If avoiding the misery of the flu isn't enough to send you scurrying to your doctor's office as soon as the annual flu shot becomes available, here's another good reason -- it might just keep you out of the hospital. More than 200,000 people are hospitalized each year because of the flu, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. The number is significantly higher than previous estimates, which put flu hospitalizations each year closer to 115,000. There are three reasons for the increase, according to study co-author William Thompson, an epidemiologist at the CDC. "One of the big reasons it's higher is that we expanded the outcome of the study," noted Thompson. "The second reason is that the older population is growing, and the third is that during the late 1990s, there were more virulent strains that were more severe in terms of health outcomes." Not surprisingly, the research, which appears in the Sept. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the highest rates of hospitalization were for people over 85 years old. For their study, Thompson and his colleagues gathered data from the 1979-1980 flu season through the 2000-2001 flu season. They used the National Hospital Discharge Survey on pneumonia- and influenza-related hospitalizations as well as any respiratory or circulatory hospitalization. Then, they compared those numbers to surveillance information from the World Health Organization Collaborating Laboratories. The researchers found the number of people hospitalized every year from influenza complications has gone up "substantially" over the past two decades. That increase is partly due to the growth of the elderly population. According to the study, the number of people over 85 more than doubled between 1976 and 2001. Those over 85 are most at risk of being hospitalized from complications of the flu. According to the study, 1,669 people per 100,000 in this age group can expect to be hospitalized for influenza-related complications. In the 80- to 84-year-old group, that number dropped dramatically, to 829 per 100,000. Between the ages of 70 and 79, the rate was around 490 per 100,000 and for those aged 65 to 69, the rate was 230 per 100,000. In children under 5, the rate was 114 per 100,000, and the rate was similar for people between the ages of 50 and 64, at 111 per 100,000. People between 5 and 49 had the lowest rate -- 28 per 100,000. "Influenza is associated with a significant number of hospitalizations every year and people should get vaccinated if they're in a group that's recommended to get the vaccine," Thompson said. "This was a well-done study that points to the fact that influenza is still a significant health problem," said Dr. Joseph Dalovisio, chairman of infectious disease at Ochsner Clinic Foundation Hospital in New Orleans and president of the Infectious Disease Society of America. "The take-away message is get vaccinated for pneumococcus and influenza," he added. But, he pointed out there may be a slight delay in getting the flu shot this year because of manufacturing problems at one site. According to a news briefing the CDC held in late August, the delay shouldn't be significant, and everyone who wants the flu vaccine should be able to get it before flu season begins. According to the CDC, those most at risk for influenza who should definitely get the influenza vaccine are: people over 65; pregnant women; children between 6 months and 23 months of age; people with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes or asthma; and health-care workers. If you've been exposed to flu and you weren't vaccinated, you may still be able to prevent the flu by taking antiviral medications, Dalovisio said. Some other good ways to prevent flu and other infections this winter, according to the CDC, are keeping your hands clean, not touching your eyes, nose or mouth, and avoiding close contact with other people. More information To learn more about flu and the steps you can take to prevent it, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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