Thread: Flu poses greater threat than Ebola, health experts say

Flu poses greater threat than Ebola, health experts say

Shelton Green, KVUE11:19 p.m. CDT October 2, 2014


(Photo: AzmanJaka Getty Images)

AUSTIN -- When a West African tested positive in Dallas this week for the Ebola virus, it created panic throughout many Texas communities.

Medical experts are hoping we focus the Ebola conversation on what they believe is more of a real threat to Central Texans.


Doctors believe Flu more of a threat than Ebola KVUE


October begins the flu season in our area, a season which can last through May.

Last year 20 children across Texas died from influenza or flu.Twelve adults died in Travis County from flu.

Doctors say that flu is much more contagious than Ebola because of the way it's spread.

"You can contract influenza up to 6 feet away, but more commonly someone has sneezed or coughed into their hand and have touched something else that you then go touch. Ebola is a very different type of virus that lives in the bloodstream, in the bodily fluids. So it requires that that person that's infected, bodily fluids gets in contact with an open wound or sore in the bodily fluids of another person," said Dr. Amy Burton Smith, emergency medicine physician at St. David's Emergency Center in Bee Cave.

The Walgreens on Anderson Lane tells KVUE that every day at least 20 to 30 people are starting to come in for flu shots.

For every customer who gets a shot or vaccine at Walgreens, between now and Oct 15, Walgreens is donating a shot to a needy child overseas.

CDC recommends that you get it by the end of October, that way it takes a couple of weeks to get into your system, and there's enough time for that build up.

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/health/2014/10/02/doctors--believe-flu-more-of-a-threat-than-ebola/16623621/

How many people die from seasonal flu each year in the United States?

The number of seasonal influenza-associated (i.e., seasonal flu-related) deaths varies from year to year because flu seasons are unpredictable and often fluctuate in length and severity. Therefore, a single estimate cannot be used to summarize influenza-associated deaths. Instead, a range of estimated deaths is a better way to represent the variability and unpredictability of flu... CDC estimates that from the 1976-1977 season to the 2006-2007 flu season, flu-associated deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people...

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease...ted_deaths.htm

http://www.alipac.us/f19/five-diseas...und-us-312254/