Hundreds take a shot at avoiding the flu.

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

The flu has arrived like a bad cough in Lane County, spreading quickly and filling doctor's offices and hospital beds in the metro area.

News of dwindling flu vaccine supplies also prompted more than 400 people to show up Wednesday for a flu-shot clinic at Lane County Public Health in Eugene.

The flu season is shaping up to be the most severe in several years, state and federal public health officials say. That's partly because this year's flu vaccine provides only partial protection for the strain of influenza, known as A-Fujian, that appears to be causing most of the illnesses around the country.

The disease is widespread in 13 states, including Washington and Idaho, but not yet in Oregon, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Colorado may be the hardest hit, with 7,600 reported flu cases and nine deaths of children.

Epidemiologists have recorded 106 confirmed cases of influenza in Oregon, including two in Lane County. But those numbers don't reflect the reality in local clinics and emergency rooms, where health providers say they're seeing a lot of the flu and other respiratory illnesses.

At McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, doctors and nurses are "extremely busy" treating people with flu symptoms, pneumonia and other respiratory infections, said Tom Hambly, a nurse and clinical manager of the emergency department.

"We always get busy this time of year because it is flu season, but we are much busier than we have been historically," he said. "We are paying very close attention to what this flu virus is doing to our community."

The hospital has admitted 15 patients for treatment of influenza, he said. And patient volumes in the emergency department are up about 20 percent in the past two weeks, much of it with people complaining of flu symptoms, he said.

Dr. John Dunphy, chief of pediatrics at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, said the pediatrics unit is near capacity. He predicted the outbreak will get worse in coming weeks when regular cases of the flu and other viral illness develop into pneumonia, and sinus and ear infections.

Pediatric doctors and nurses at PeaceHealth Medical Group's main clinic in downtown Eugene have been getting slammed with sick kids and worried parents, Dunphy said.

"It's been unbelievable around here," he said. The rush began just before Thanksgiving, when "all of a sudden a tidal wave of sick people were coming in," he said.

The demand for care stems from a real increase in influenza and other winter viruses, but also because of a spate of news reports about the flu's spread and vaccine shortage, he said.

Detecting more serious cases while treating a crush of patients poses a challenge for health providers, Dunphy said.

"How do you pick out kids who are sicker ... in all this mess? You be careful," he said.

"It's a little on the scary side. It's not all that hard to miss pneumonia or some other diagnosis if you're in a hurry and you're not careful."

In an indication of public concern about the flu season, the line of people at the county flu-shot clinic wound through the corridors and reached out to the sidewalk.

Five nurses administered shots to 423 adults, young, old and in between, from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Upstairs at the children's clinic, another 195 doses were given, said Pat Dotson, the public health agency's supply clerk.

Scott Jones, 28-year-old owner of a Eugene fleece clothing company, is a healthy young man, but decided to get a flu shot at his father's urging. The $17 fee - and the long wait - was worth it, he said.

"Better to do an hour now than six days later," he said.

Lane County Public Health has about 100 doses of flu vaccine remaining and plans to offer it on a first-come, first-served basis at next Wednesday morning's regular immunization clinic, Dotson said. It's also possible that the CDC, which is trying to manage a national shortage of vaccine, may direct the local agency to target high-risk populations with the remaining flu shots, he said.

Public health officials are directing callers to check with their own health providers about flu vaccine, Dotson said. But even a large practice such as PeaceHealth Medical Group is down to 360 doses, spokesman Brian Terrett said.

AVOIDING THE FLU

Public health officials offer these tips for reducing the risk of catching the flu - or of passing it on if you're already sick:

Wash your hands frequently.

Avoid prolonged contact with people who are sick.

If you're sick, stay home.

Cover your coughs and sneezes with tissue or the crook of your arm.

CAPTION(S):

Jim Stenklyft of Eugene was one of 400 people who showed up at a flu-shot clinic provided by Lane County Public Health on Wednesday morning.