The so-called “super flu” – a strain that doctors say appears to last longer and be very transmissible – is spreading in California.
“It really seems to last a long time,” UCSF Dr. Monica Gandhi said. “People are pretty uncomfortable – fevers, chills, body aches, cough. Everyone knows someone who’s sick.”
Doctors say those getting severely sick – some even ending up in the hospital – typically haven’t been vaccinated. While the new strain may not be covered by the flu vaccine, the vaccine could make symptoms less severe.
“Importantly and unfortunately it may not be covered by the current flu vaccine,” Gandhi said. “We’ve been seeing a lot of this in the East Coast and looks like it’s now coming here to California.”
Gandhi said there are lower vaccination rates this flu season. For people who haven’t received the vaccine, Gandhi recommends they still do so because it could help protect against other strains and against more severe illness.
In California, the test positivity rate for the flu in general is currently described as moderate, but in the Bay Area it’s described as high.
Dr. Rob Assibey at STAT MED Urgent Care in Concord said they’ve seen a significant uptick in flu cases.
“This year we have a lot of patients with upper respiratory symptoms – cough, cold, congestion, high fevers,” he said. “A lot of them are coming back with influenza A, and it seems to be affecting them quite significantly.”
People who have been vaccinated often have milder symptoms, he’s noticed.
“The patients that are more severe and end up hospitalized are usually the ones that are unvaccinated,” he said.