Swine flu hits young adults hard

Along with snowflakes, hot chocolate and peppermint, winter brings a less happy tiding: influenza. 

This year, influenza has targeted a new host of individuals: young adults. 

Holli Senior, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said the predominant strain appearing this flu season is H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. First detected in the United States in April 2009 by the Centers for Disease Control, the strain was labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization two months later. 

According to a Department of Health report last week, Allegheny County reported 881 cases of influenza, the highest of all the counties in the state. The state has reported 11,982 total cases of influenza.

Ninety-four percent of the state’s cases are the H1N1 strain. 

“It is a strain associated with causing more severe illness in young adults, which is not typical of influenza strains per se,” Senior said. “They usually say the very young and the very old [are commonly affected].”

As of Jan. 28, according to the Department of Health report, 38 deaths related to influenza have occurred in the state, with eight of the deaths occuring among people aged 19 through 49. Only one death of an individual younger than 19 years old was reported. The department estimates between 200 and 2,000 individuals in the state die from complications from influenza annually. 

According to the CDC classification system, the flu has been classified as “widespread,” which is characterized by outbreaks “in at least half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza.” 

Michael Wolf, Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of health, said in a press release the best form of protection is vaccination. 

“Flu activity has been picking up in the state, but we still have not peaked, which means we still have plenty of activity ahead of us,” Wolf said.  

Senior said this year’s flu vaccine covers the H1N1 strain. 

According to the CDC, over 100 countries send influenza samples to World Health Organization centers to make the vaccine each year. The organization then provides recommendations for the vaccine composition to the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee for a final decision. 

Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases laboratories created the new vaccines, according to the CDC. This year, the trivalent vaccine contains three strains: an H1N1 component, an H3N2 component and a B component. The quadrivalent vaccine covers two different strains of influenza B. 

 Senior said individuals should take other precautions, including washing their hands, limiting exposure to the cold and refraining from being in large crowds. Antiviral drugs can prevent the flu 70 to 90 percent of the time after exposure. Two antivirals recommended for the 2012-2013 season were oseltamivir and zanamivir, which use neuraminidase inhibitors, drugs that inhibit enzymes that help in the release of new virus progeny, to work against influenza A and B viruses.   

Vaccinations are available at numerous clinics in the city, including the University’s Student Health Services. 

Marian Vanek, director of Pitt’s Student Health Services, said that while 15 to 18 percent of the students who visited Studen Health  experienced flu-like symptoms, none were definitively diagnosed with H1N1.

“In most cases, our clinicians make a diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment and follow-up based on symptoms, especially when such symptoms present during peak flu season, such as now,” Vanek said in a statement. 

However, if a specific diagnosis was justified, staff would use viral cultures and other tests, which “are quite expensive and may take up to 10 days for results,” Vanek said. 

Jacob Wilder, a senior majoring in computer science, is appreciative of the University’s efforts, encouraging others to spend a few minutes to vaccinate against the flu.

”I’ve gotten one [shot] every year, and reminded my friends through Facebook and texts to walk over during the fall days on campus,” Wilder said. “Most of us don’t really have the time to get sick.”