February 27, 1998

Volume 85, Issue 10

In fashion, it’s big, clunky shoes. In music, it’s Matchbox 20. In enter-tainment, it’s Ally McBeal. In viral diseases, it’s what’s being dubbed the “Australian” flu.

A viral disease, such as the Australian flu, would usually not be considered the latest trend. But it seems as if it has become “all the rage” to come down with the Australian flu, as well as other strains this season.

Despite many precautions, such as vaccinations and hand-washing, many people at FHS and in the community have suffered strains of the flu this winter season.

“The flu is nasty this year,” said FHS Nurse Margie Piersall. “Lots of people are sick. I think there are lots of viruses out there. There are new viruses every year.”

“I guess now I’ll take my vitamins and get a lot of sleep so I won’t get sick again,” said senior Jenny Williams, who was sick with the flu for about a week.

The flu is not only dangerous — it is also mysterious. It’s symptoms can often be mistaken for a cold and vice versa (see chart).

“(There) seems to be more (cases) this year than last year,” said County Public Health Nurse Elaine Sedlack. “Especially in Kalispell.”

Because many people think of the flu in its early stage as merely a common cold, they will not go to their doctor and receive proper treatment. This lack of concern can lead to more serious sickness and also makes it hard to accurately estimate the number of cases of flu occurring because fewer people will go to a doctor when they think they merely have a cold. The flu may reach out-of-hand proportions before it is recognized as dangerous, according to an article in Rolling Stone magazine.

Perhaps the most mysterious aspect of the flu is the nature of the flu itself. Viruses can mutate, forming new strains that cause different symptoms and degrees of sickness. A new flu virus evolves every 12 months and people are not immune to new strains, despite vaccinations and resistance to old strains.

When FHS Office Manager Pam Tressler came down with the flu, she visited her doctor.

 “(They said) this wasn’t the strain they were counting on,” said Tressler. Tressler was also told that her flu was occurring in many people, despite flu vaccinations.

Vaccinations are formulated after predicting which flu strains will occur in the flu season, according to the urgent care coordinator at Family Health Care, Diane Dolven. Unfortunately, these predictions are not always correct and lead to more sickness.

“We are vaccinated against influenza A and B,” said Dolven. But people have become sick with a new strain, dubbed the Australian flu, despite vaccinations, added Dolven.

The flu is also dangerous in that it is spread through air by “droplet nuclei” that are emitted when a person sneezes or coughs and those germs can float in the air for hours afterwards.

“(The flu) is easily spread from person to person,” said Sedlack. “People really need to stay home when they’re sick.”

Sedlack said that many people cannot get off work and will spread the virus when working sick. Students, too, can be reluctant to miss school on account of the semester test policy.

“I was sick all of last week,” said Williams. “But I only stayed home one day. I don’t want to take semesters.”

Flathead has not been passed over by the flu virus.

“There has been a lot of family sicknesses,” said Tressler. “Some of them have been bad cases with three or four (days missed) or a whole week gone.”

The flu pulled junior Kristine Nixon out for an entire week, and her sickness led to a more serious condition.

“I had it the first time and I relapsed on it,” said Nixon. “The second time was like a whole week.”

During that week, Nixon developed a bacterial infection in her blood.

“I couldn’t eat. I drank lots of fluids,” said Nixon. “I was really tired.”

“Nixon guesses she slept 15 hours a day. Her doctor also warned her against the flu developing into pneumonia.

“I stayed home the whole weekend so I wouldn’t get pneumonia.”

Elementary schools around Kalispell have been hit especially hard, taking many students and teachers out of school — and not just for a day or two, but usually a week.

“(The flu has hit hard) in the last three weeks,” said Cornelius Hedges Office Manager Cindy Jenkins. “It’s getting better now. But in the last two weeks, we’ve had a lot of kids out. We had an average of 40-some kids a day out.”

Flu also took 13 of the 18 students out of Gary Manning’s second grade class at Russell School, as well as Manning himself a day later. Eleven students were also out sick in the fifth grade class.

“Our school was hit pretty hard,” said Manning. “After that day, we recovered pretty well.”

Kalispell’s nursing homes have also seen cases of flu and even death by flu this year. Influenza’s greatest victims are the elderly, will often develop pneumonia with the flu, which leads to most deaths, according to Sedlack.

At Brendan House Nursing home, no visitors were allowed for two weeks when the first cases of flu occurred, according to Director of Nursing Fran Micklewright. Staff was also encouraged to wash their hands well and were sent home for three days if they became sick. These precautions not only benefit the staff, but the elderly people who are very susceptible to the flu.

“They are in a weakened condition,” said Micklewright. “Small children and the elderly are the most (susceptible) to the flu.”

Influenza can be harder to treat than many sicknesses because it is a virus, and antibiotics are not effective against viruses.

“There are antiviral medicines out there that do help,” said Piersall. “If your temperature is 104 within the first 24 hours, I would go to a doctor and get and antiviral medicine and take it as it is prescribed.”

“I don’t think people use medicine properly,” said Piersall. “People come in my office all the time who don’t use (the full course of) their antibiotics. It’s like we’re a petri dish and it’s like we kill the bacteria halfway.”

The flu brings fever and aches and often the best medicine is bed rest, lots of fluids and good nutrition, according to Piersall. It is also important to keep resting in the days following recovery.

Said senior Chad Deisenroth who was sick for more than two weeks on how he’ll keep himself healthy this flu season:

“I’ll just try to take care of myself and keep away from others who are sick.”