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Flu Virus Lingers...in a Milder Form

Scott Willis
/
WAER News

Just when Central New Yorkers thought winter was over, it appears the flu season is also sticking around.  
It's almost a repeat of last year – where one virus predominates the season, peters out and another strain replaces it, say Onondaga County health officials.  
 County Medical Director Quoc Nguyen says the H1N1 virus has faded, but influenza type B has been trending up during the past week. 
"The B tends to affect more the older age group, just like other flu years.  And it seems like B may be a bit milder, but we cannot tell that," Nguyen said.  "But we know for sure that H1N1 was very serious, but we've already past the peak for H1N1."  

 

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
/
WAER News
This hand drawn chart shows the peaks and valleys of flu activity, including type "a," which peaked in February, and type "b," which is taking its place. The green line represents 2013 flu activity.

  Thirty three of the 56 reported cases are type B, but officials know the numbers are far higher since not everyone with the flu is being tested.  In addition, most people tend to stay home and treat themselves rather than go to the doctor.   Nguyen says this year’s vaccine covers all types of flu, so it’s not too late to get immunized.   He adds there have been no local hospitalizations related to Flu B, unlike New York City.  Officials say the old advice still holds true to avoid spreading the virus; maintain good hand hygiene and stay home if you're sick.  
 

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.
Valerie studies Newspaper Online Journalism at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She began reporting for WAER in 2008. Two years later, she started helping produce the afternoon state and local newscasts. Then, her passion for radio led her to report and anchor local news for KBEC 1390-AM in Waxahachie, TX from 2011 – 2012. After returning to WAER, she jumped right back in as assistant producer and weekend reporter. Now, she’s primarily interested in multimedia journalism, telling stories through print, photography and audio for the web. But you can still hear her this fall, as Friday’s host for All Things Considered. She enjoys the beautiful scenery around Syracuse. And she loves serving Central New Yorkers!