Sonoma County residents urged to get flu vaccination as cold season arrives

With Thanksgiving only days away, Sonoma County public health officials are reminding local residents that the flu virus can spread as easily as holiday cheer.

“People are traveling a lot and also gathering together. It’s a great opportunity for transmission of all manner of viruses, including influenza,” said Karen Holbrook, county deputy health officer.

Holbrook said it’s still early in the flu season, which typically begins in late October and ends in May, and there have been no cases of severe flu illness reported in the county.

Flu activity in Sonoma County doesn’t start ramping up until about 10 days after the Thanksgiving holiday, said Dr. Jose Morales, chief of pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa. That’s how long the incubation period is after exposure to the virus, he said.

“It just takes one big event like everybody getting together, combined with the right time of year, which is wintertime,” Morales said.

Morales said the flu virus thrives in cool environments, “migrating” from one cool place to the next. It is active in South America during our summer months, when it is cold there, and active in North America during our winter, he said.

In Kaiser’s Northern California region, less than 1 percent of the 438 respiratory tests administered to Kaiser patients exhibiting flu-like symptoms came up positive for the flu virus, Morales said. “The flu season hasn’t started yet, but it’s about to start.”

Thanksgiving, he said, brings to the North Coast visitors from colder regions where flu activity is more widespread. Both Holbrook and Morales said it’s important to practice good hygiene during the Thanksgiving holiday. That includes covering your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, washing your hands often and avoiding touching your eyes and mouth.

“We like seeing our friends and family - this is a time to get together. But we’re also at a place touching each other, hugging each other, giving gifts, sharing meals; we have to keep hands clean, get shots and take care of ourselves,” Morales said.

“Even though most people who get the flu will weather it well, it still can be a serious illness,” Holbrook said, adding that the best way to avoid the flu virus is to get vaccinated.

Samples taken of the strains of flu virus currently circulating match those found in the seasonal flu vaccine, Holbrook said. Those who are at high risk of severe flu illness should contact a health care provider immediately, she said, adding that antiviral medicines can be taken that will greatly reduce the level of illness caused by the virus, as well as shorten the amount of time one is sick.

Those who are at greater risk for severe flu illness include children less than 2 years old or adults older than 65; people with chronic lung, heart, renal, liver, blood or nervous system disorders; people with immunosuppression conditions from medicine or HIV infection; women who are pregnant or within two weeks after delivery; people who are morbidly obese; residents of nursing homes or other chronic care facilities; American Indians and Alaska natives with less exposure to the flu; and people under 19 who are under long-term aspirin therapy.

Morales echoed Holbrook’s call for all North Coast residents to get vaccinated. He said that young adults who are healthy often choose not to get vaccinated because they think the flu will not affect them as severely as older patients or infants. But Morales said that while that may be true, young people are often a major carrier of the virus, spreading it to at-risk populations.

“If you have the vaccine, you’re protected. It stops the transmission to the next person,” Morales said. “You’re not only protecting yourself, you’re also protecting the community around you.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.