How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – California's flu season has claimed one local victim, with state officials reporting that the majority of those who have died from flu this season were not vaccinated against the illness.
As of last Friday, the California Department of Public Health said 202 Californians had died of influenza this flu season – which began last fall – including one Lake County resident.
Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait confirmed the local flu death that was reported by California Department of Public Health officials.
Tait said she was limited in the details she could divulge about the flu victim, who was a woman in the age range of 30 to 40 years.
“The patient did have health risk factors for severe complications of influenza,” she said.
Tait also wouldn't provide the date of the woman's death, noting that “it was around the time that appeared to be the peak of this flu season, assuming that the recent decline in reported cases continues.”
Regarding whether the woman had been vaccinated, Tait said her agency didn't have definite vaccination information on the case.
Statewide, the majority of individuals who have died of the flu this year had not been vaccinated, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Corey Egel, a California Department of Public Health spokesman, told Lake County News that of the 202 reported and confirmed flu deaths in California during the current flu season, approximately 84 percent were not vaccinated and approximately 16 percent were vaccinated.
“While it is better to get vaccinated than skip it, the protection is not 100 percent,” said Tait.
In addition to the one local flu death, Tait said there have been three other confirmed influenza cases from Lake County in individuals under age 64 who required intensive care. She said those individuals were unvaccinated.
There also was a fourth person who had the flu who was hospitalized and received special monitoring, but the monitoring was not related to the influenza illness, making it not a technically reportable case, Tait said.
She said Public Health also was aware of one additional person who was hospitalized with the flu, but the case was not technically because the patient was older than age 65.
“There may be others but, again, we might not hear about them all,” Tait said, noting that only reports of deaths are mandated by law.
Lake County Public Health has requested reports of intensive care hospitalizations from local hospitals, but those aren't legally required, she said.
Based on data from past years, Tait said there was one death and three ICU hospitalizations in Lake County during the 2009-10 pandemic, no deaths or ICU hospitalizations for people under age 65 for the years 2010 and 2011, and no deaths and two hospitalizations – both in patients between the ages of 30 and 40 years – in 2012.
Lake County Public Health still has flu vaccine available for people of all ages, Tait said.
Lake County Public Health, located at 922 Bevins Court in Lakeport, offers vaccinations for $2 each from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
Tait suggested calling 707-263-1090 or 800-794-9291 first to assure availability and confirm the hours of the clinic before coming in.
A flu vaccine finder is available at http://www.flu.gov/about_the_flu/seasonal/index.html .
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