Respiratory Infections, Flu on Rise

Holiday gatherings and new viral strains are being blamed for a jump in the number of cases of influenza and upper respiratory infections around the county in the past two weeks, hospital administrators and public health officials said Tuesday.

“A lot of us can’t remember the hospital being so busy,” said Rhonda Spiegel, assistant executive director of Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.

Faced with an occasional shortfall of beds, hospitals have at times been diverting patients to other facilities this holiday season, health care experts say.

Rita O’Connor, director of communications at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, said earlier this month that the Oxnard hospital could not accommodate additional critical-care patients and diverted them to other providers. But for the past week, St. John’s had sufficient capacity.

“It can vary from day to day,” she said.

Because of an ongoing shortage of nurses, six of the eight hospitals in the county are on diversion status, said Jim Eads, assistant administrator of the county’s Department of Emergency Medical Services.

“Six of eight, that’s significant,” he said.

Hospital staffs have also been under increased pressure to move patients out of critical-care units more quickly to make room for new arrivals.

“We tend to be more aggressive about moving the patients when they are more stable,” Spiegel said. “It’s been a real revolving door of beds.”

The increased number of patients suffering from the flu or upper respiratory ailments this season has meant long waits in emergency rooms. And elective surgeries at some facilities have been delayed, Eads said.

The jump in the number of influenza cases--as well as in pneumonia, bronchitis and severe sinus infections--is attributed to a number of factors, including increased socializing during the holidays and possibly new virus strains, though it is too early in the flu season to be sure.

Lin Glusac, immunization coordinator for the county’s Public Health Department, said she is hearing this year of more upper respiratory infections than in the past.

“It probably means there is a new virus,” she said. “They are very good at changing . . . and our antibodies can’t fight them.”

Glusac said the number of flu cases also has risen, and may include people who received flu shots this year. She said viruses may be circulating that are not covered by the influenza vaccine.

Dr. Bill Scott, medical director of Los Robles Regional Medical Center’s urgent care unit in Thousand Oaks, said he has been deluged with patients in the past two weeks. He also said physicians at other hospitals in the county have reported similar numbers of cases.

“We’re seeing a lot of people, more than we did last year,” he said.

At Ventura County Medical Center, nurse executive Debra Bartlett said that since the Christmastime flu epidemic in 1997, the hospital’s emergency room has been continuously busy during the winter holiday period.

Glusac said people can help avoid infection by washing their hands after being in public.

At the first sign of flu symptoms, such as chills or body aches, she recommended that people drink extra fluids and get plenty of rest.

If the flu or respiratory infection persists, Glusac suggested seeing a primary care provider or visiting an urgent care facility to avoid long waits at hospital emergency rooms.