Reported cases of flu are on the increase in Spokane County.
January is traditionally the peak of the flu season in Spokane. This year, health officials say there appear to be more cases than an average year. “For context, what we were looking at last year at this same time was just 9 hospitalizations. And currently we are sitting at 42 hospitalizations. So that is pretty significantly different than last year’s flu season,” says Kim Papich of the Spokane Regional Health District. Papich says there are two types of flu being reported in the Spokane area, “A and B”, with all the hospitalizations coming from folks who have come down with the A type. She says the symptoms primarily involve respiratory distress. “And so that’s not to be confused with stomach illnesses that cause diarrhea or nausea, that’s not anything associated with the flu,” says Papich.
Papich says most of those hospitalized are older adults, or those with chronic health conditions. She says the flu vaccine that was developed for this year is specifically targeted against the two types that are showing up in Spokane. Papich says there are also other viruses circulating that are not the flu. She cites two people at the Health District who have come down with pneumonia, neither of which was related to contracting influenza.
While there have been no fatalities reported in Spokane County yet, there have been 8 deaths connected to the flu in King County this season.
