Influenza Epidemic Is Blamed for 8 Deaths

Medical authorities on Monday blamed an influenza epidemic sweeping Orange County for at least eight deaths. The virus, known as Victoria Type B influenza, also has packed local emergency rooms and increased absenteeism in schools and businesses, they said.

The eight patients died within the last several weeks in a nursing home for the elderly and a home for retarded children in Orange County, county epidemiologist Thomas J. Prendergast said. Authorities did not disclose details about the deaths.

Prendergast said medical authorities often have a difficult time pinpointing viral influenza as the exact cause of death, especially when the patients already have other ailments.

He predicted that the outbreak would peak soon but said the area will continue to see a number of cases for 2 to 3 more weeks.

“It could be a longer and it could be a shorter period of time. It’s almost impossible to tell,” he said.

The influenza virus, spread mainly through the air, attacks the respiratory tract and is marked by symptoms of high fever, nausea, body aches, coughing and occasional vomiting.

“We are seeing 30 to 40 patients a day (who) are displaying flu-like symptoms. This is a significant increase over last year,” said Dr. Michael Burns, an emergency room physician at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

Officials at Anaheim Memorial Hospital say they are seeing 30 to 40 patients a day who are complaining of flu-like symptoms.

“We are up generally about 15% in patient numbers across the board. About one-third of those are complaining of flu symptoms,” hospital spokeswoman Katherine Dopler said.

One of the Worst

According to county epidemiologist Prendergast, the current flu wave is one of the worst he has seen in his 12-year tenure with the county. He added that the current epidemic might equal the 1968 outbreak of the virulent Hong Kong flu.

“I think what we are seeing is very uncommon. I think that it’s safe to say that it’s an epidemic. Of course, when you say ‘epidemic,’ people panic. Really, what that describes is anything above the normal rate of reported incidents,” Prendergast said. “Still, it has got our attention.”

According to Suzanne Gaventa, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the eight deaths reported locally are not surprising, given the area’s population.

According to Gaventa, for those suffering from Type B influenza, there is no medication that can help relieve the suffering. Rest and drinking fluids are the best way to ride out the virus, she said.

For those who suffer from the rarer Type A influenza, Gaventa said, medical authorities have found the drug Amantadine effective against the virus.

Symptoms Feel the Same

Gaventa noted that other than a slightly different cellular makeup, there is little difference between Type A and Type B influenzas. Both attack the body in the same way and both viruses’ symptoms feel the same to the infected person. There are actually two varieties of the Type A virus--Type A-H1M1 and Type A-H3N1.

Influenza epidemics grow easily by the virus’s ability to spread through airborne respiratory “droplets,” Gaventa said. The illness can also spread by casual contact such as handshaking, she said. “We are seeing outbreaks, large and small across the nation with Type B. It is usually very aggressive with both the teen-age and elderly populations.”

The virus’s impact upon both county businesses and school districts has been mixed.

At the 40,000-student Santa Ana Unified School District, Assistant Supt. Anthony Dalessi said Monday that his district has been largely unscathed by the virus.

“We have done very, very well. I expected more, but we have not been hit too hard. We did have one elementary school where . . . maybe 10% of the kids got sick, but that was the worst that we have seen so far,” Dalessi said.

Increased Absenteeism

According to Ronald Walter, associate superintendent for the 36,000-student Garden Grove Unified School District, the flu has caused a “marked increase” in student absenteeism. But Walter did not have a specific number of students absent from the district’s various schools.

The virus has not exempted employees of Pacific Bell, either. Spokesman Michael Runzler said the communications giant had “at least one person in each department” come down with the flu.

“The sniffles are prevalent around here,” Runzler said.

At Fluor Corp. in Irvine, most departments of the 2,400-employee engineering company reported someone down with the virus, spokesman Rick Maslin said.