Bladen County Hospital lifts flu restrictions; season is longest on record

Bladen Journal - 4/23/2019

April 19-- Apr. 19--ELIZABETHTOWN -- Flu restrictions at Bladen County Hospital, along with all Cape Fear Valley Health facilities, have been lifted.

The news was given Thursday and came one day before a report confirming this flu season is the longest since the government started tracking duration more than 20 years ago.

In early January, the Cumberland County-based health system implemented a policy restricting children under age 12 from visiting its hospitals effective immediately. Additionally, the Emergency Department at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville limited visitors to just one per patient.

Ironically enough, it was just before that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believed this to be shaping up as the shortest and mildest on record. Then a second viral wave struck.

Bladen County Hospital is still requesting individuals experiencing flu-like symptoms -- fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose -- to not visit friends and family there. They should remain home and call a primary care physician for treatment and guidance. Hand washing is the most effective way to reduce the spread of flu and other types of infection.

Friday's report from the CDC was judged by some experts to be like having two different seasons, back-to-back compressed into one.

"I don't remember a season like this," Dr. Arnold Monto told The Associated Press. He's a University of Michigan researcher who had been studying respiratory illnesses for more than 50 years.

The longest flu season prior to this year was in 2014-15, lasting 20 weeks. This season's start is judged to be the week of Thanksgiving.

The report said in mid-February, another strain started causing more illnesses and hospitalizations. The bug was not matched well to the vaccine, according to the CDC's Lynnette Brammer.

Despite this news, last winter's 19-week season was more deadly than any other in four decades and this season is not well off that pace. A year ago, 80,000 Americans died of flu and complications; this season, the estimated flu-related deaths is 35,000 to 55,000.

The latest report from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services says 192 North Carolinians have died this year in connection to the flu.

Brammer said the season is "on the verge" of being over.

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: @alanwooten19.

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