FLU COMPLAINTS MORE COMMON IN SCHOOLS, CLINICS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Youngsters are staying home sick from Antelope Valley schools and people with fevers, aches and coughs are flooding walk-in clinics seeking treatment as the flu season approaches its peak months.

Students in the two largest school districts are going home sick in higher numbers, and Kaiser Permanente officials say they've seen a 35 percent uptick in the number of people being seen in their adult and pediatric urgent-care clinics.

``What I'm hearing from the nurses is that students are going home through the health office with fevers pretty much continuously throughout the day,'' said Scott Smith, director of pupil safety and attendance in the Lancaster School District. ``Definitely absenteeism is up due to the flu. Kids are going home every day at probably twice the rate they normally do.''

The numbers are up locally as flu claimed a Kern County victim, a 7-year-old boy who died at a Bakersfield hospital. In a usual year, 36,000 Americans die from flu, experts say.

In the Palmdale School District, from 200 to 300 students were absent from Juniper Intermediate School on Tuesday, up from the usual number of fewer than 100.

``I do know we have seen an increased number of students in the health offices, and an increased number have been going home with headaches, stomachaches and low-grade fevers,'' said Julie Ferebee, the Palmdale School District's director of health services. ``It appears to be a difficult flu season in general.''

The Kaiser adult urgent-care clinics are seeing on average 173 patients a day so far this month, compared with 120 a day in the month of November.

Patients are being treated for upper respiratory infections and viral and gastrointestinal symptoms.

``Last year and the year before were relatively light seasons. This year, it's starting earlier and seems to be heavier,'' said Ken Murtishaw, assistant medical group administrator.

Los Angeles County health officials said earlier this week that they have not seen evidence of a worse-than-average flu season locally, despite reports of severe outbreaks in other parts of the state and nation.

Recently, the influenza virus has been blamed for the deaths of about a dozen children in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico - states where the disease is deemed widespread by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Parents should contact their doctor if their child has trouble breathing or has a fever over 103 degrees that won't go away after attempts to lower it with medicine like Tylenol, said Dr. Laurene Mascola, chief of the acute communicable disease control program for Los Angeles County.

Parents also should be on the alert for ``any child who you feel is not making common sense, not with it, not focusing, not making sense. Those are early signs of brain irritation,'' Mascola said.

``It is not a common cause of death in healthy children. Yes, we are hearing about the occasional cases of children dying, but there are other common things that children die from every day,'' Mascola said.

According to the CDC, the flu hospitalizes more than 114,000 people every year. Nearly half of those hospitalized are over 65.

Each year, flu and complications of the flu kill 36,000 people, more than any other vaccine-preventable illness, the CDC said.

Classic flu symptoms include very sudden fever, muscle aches, mostly in the back, sore throat, and a nonproductive cough with no phlegm or sputum. Colds usually are not associated with the same sudden fever and muscle aches, and more frequently than flu are associated with a runny nose, though without tests it is hard to differentiate the flu and other viruses.

Only about 50 percent of infected people develop classic flu symptoms, the CDC said.

The CDC has observed an earlier onset of the flu this year and is encouraging people at high risk for complications from influenza to get vaccinated, though questions have been raised about whether the vaccine will protect against this year's virulent strain, known as A-Fijian.

High-risk individuals include people who are 50 years and older, people with chronic heart or lung conditions, such as asthma, and pregnant women in their second trimester.

Children ages 6 months to 23 months are also encouraged to get flu shots, according to the CDC.

For healthy people between the ages of 5 and 49, a new nasal flu vaccine mist is another option of protection against the flu.

Frequent washing of hands and avoiding touching the nose, eyes and mouth will help people avoid transmitting or getting the flu or other respiratory infections, like a cold, the CDC said.

For more information on how to get a flu shot, call county public health representatives at [phone], or visit the Web site at lapublichealth.org.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

INFLUENZA

Call a doctor immediately if:

--An infant under age 3 months has a fever of 100.4 or higher.

--A baby or toddler age 3 months to 3 years has a fever of 104 or higher that does not come down after four to six hours of home treatment.

--A child over age 4 or adult has a fever of 104 or higher that does not come down after two hours of home treatment.

--A child or adult has labored, shallow, rapid breathing with shortness of breath.

--A child or adult has a fever with a severe headache or stiff neck or seems confused or hard to wake.

Call a doctor if:

--Symptoms had improved but seem to be getting worse again.

--Signs of a bacterial infection develop, such as an ear infection, bronchitis or pneumonia.

--Flu develops in a person over 65 with other health problems such as lung, heart or kidney disease or in someone being treated with chemotherapy for cancer.

--Flu develops in a person of any age with a long-term respiratory illness such as asthma or emphysema.

--Symptoms include fever over 101, shaking chills and a cough that produces mucus from the lungs.

--Signs of Reye's syndrome - including sudden retching, sluggishness, and slurred speech - develop three to seven days after the start of flu symptoms in teens and children.

SOURCE: WebMD.com

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INFLUENZA (see text)