MILD INFLUENZA SEASON, BUT MORE B-STRAIN CASES, REPORTED IN COUNTY : FLU.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

Although Los Angeles County was blessed this year with a relatively mild flu season, public health officials say there were more cases of a less infectious strain of influenza this year.

Health clinics countywide reported 50 percent more cases of influenza B than the classic, less-wrenching influenza A, said Dr. Shirley Fannin, disease control director for the county Department of Health Services.

The good news is that influenza B spreads less rapidly than influenza A and also tends to be less infectious.

``Influenza A can change from one week to the next; you can have a perfectly well work force, and the next week they're sick,'' Fannin said.

Unlike influenza A, influenza B typically causes nausea and diarrhea, in addition to the usual flu symptoms that include sore throats, fever, aches and coughing, Fannin said.

No one knows the exact number of cases of classic flu and influenza B because not all are reported and some viruses mimic influenza's symptoms.

Flu season typically runs from November through April, but Fannin and other doctors believe it is tapering off early.

``I have a feeling it has peaked,'' said Fannin. ``That doesn't mean we won't have extra cases, but it means they won't cluster and give you a community impact.''

San Fernando Valley doctors and school officials said cases of influenza A have increased moderately over the past two months, but noted that the rise came in steady increments.

``I would say it was a moderate season'' said Satwant Sidhu, chief physician for the county's East Valley Health Center. ``We saw patients with fever, sore throats, coughs, runny noses, but really nothing which we can say is unusual.''

The number of flu patients peaked in December and January at the center, which includes clinics in North Hollywood, Burbank and Tujunga and is affiliated with several others in the Valley.

Thus far, not one school in the Los Angeles Unified School District has reported any widespread absences due to any illness, including the flu. Typically, when 10 percent or more of a school's students call in sick with the same illness, the schools report this to the district.

``This year it's sort of been a steady, not alarming, rate,'' said Suzanne Rue, the LAUSD's communicable disease resource nurse. ``And it seems to be over a longer period of time, but not as intense.''

At Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood, doctors reported a slight increase in respiratory viruses, but they have not seen a tremendous amount of patients with Influenza B.

``We haven't seen the numbers we were fearing, but what we have seen has been more severe than usual,'' said Allison Engelman Friedman, a family nurse practitioner with the clinic.

Engelman Friedman said patients have come in with influenza B gastrointestinal symptoms that tend to last seven to 10 days rather than two to three days usually associated with colds or other respiratory viruses.

Flu season might be ending, but it is not too late to protect yourself from any number of viruses that linger.

Wash your hands frequently, to avoid picking up germs left on surfaces.

Keep your hands away from your face because bugs can enter your body through your mouth, eyes and nose.

Always maintain a balanced diet and get plenty of rest.

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