It’s Like A Feeling Of ‘Being In The Trenches’: Calif. Hospitals Stretched Thin As They Battle Vicious Flu
Hospitals across the state are sending away ambulances, flying in nurses from out of state and not letting children visit their loved ones for fear they’ll spread the flu. Meanwhile, the death toll just keeps climbing.
Los Angeles Times:
California Hospitals Face A 'War Zone' Of Flu Patients — And Are Setting Up Tents To Treat Them
Hospitals across the state are sending away ambulances, flying in nurses from out of state and not letting children visit their loved ones for fear they’ll spread the flu. Others are canceling surgeries and erecting tents in their parking lots so they can triage the hordes of flu patients. (Karlamangla, 1/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Flu Death Toll Rises In California
The number of Californians under 65 who've died of the flu has jumped to 42, compared with nine at the same time last year, state officials said Friday. The flu season, which runs from October through May, typically peaks in February. Public health officials say they don't yet know whether the flu season is peaking earlier than normal, or if this year will be a particularly tough one for the flu. (Karlamangla, 1/12)
The Mercury News:
Flu Deaths Rise, Patients Pack Bay Area Emergency Rooms
At hospitals around the Bay Area and across the country, those on the front lines of what is shaping up to be the worst flu season in a decade are struggling to keep up — and wondering whether it will get worse. (Prodis Sulek, 1/14)
The Mercury News:
San Jose Mom Is Among 42 California Flu Deaths
Katie Denise Oxley Thomas was fun-loving, athletic — a marathon runner — and looking forward to starting a new job as an executive assistant at Applied Materials after the new year. But 48 hours after coming down with the flu on Jan. 2, the 40-year-old San Jose mother of three was dead. Thomas was one of 42 Californians under 65 who have died since the flu season began Oct. 1, according to California public health officials. The vicious outbreaks kicked in aggressively by early November, they say, and are now on track to being the worst in a decade. (Seipel, 1/12)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Is This Year's Flu Really Deadlier Than Past Years?
So far this year, there have been 91 flu-related deaths in San Diego County compared with 58 in 2009, the year of the global pandemic. The disparity in death rates might be surprising for those who recall there was initially no vaccination available for the dominant flu strain in 2009, H1N1, which allowed it to spread unchecked from coast to coast. By comparison, the flu types circulating this year are all contained in this year’s vaccine, according to the latest update from the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Sisson, 1/14)
Stat:
A Severe Flu Season Is Stretching Hospitals Thin. That Is A Very Bad Omen
A tsunami of sick people has swamped hospitals in many parts of the country in recent weeks as a severe flu season has taken hold. In Rhode Island, hospitals diverted ambulances for a period because they were overcome with patients. In San Diego, a hospital erected a tent outside its emergency room to manage an influx of people with flu symptoms. Wait times at scores of hospitals have gotten longer. But if something as foreseeable as a flu season — albeit one that is pretty severe — is stretching health care to its limits, what does that tell us about the ability of hospitals to handle the next flu pandemic? (Branswell, 1/15)
Stat:
Flu Season Is Shaping Up As One Of The Worst In Years, Officials Say
The entire continental United States is experiencing widespread flu right now, the first time in the 13 years of the current tracking system that that has happened, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials said that this flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in recent years. The rate of flu hospitalizations — the number of people hospitalized with flu per 100,000 — rose sharply last week compared with the previous week. Last week it was 22.7 per 100,000 people; the week before that rate was 13.7. (Branswell, 1/12)