Greg Bonner, left, receives a flu shot from Blue Mountain Community College nursing student Dariann Scott during a drive-thru flu shot clinic hosted by CHI St. Anthony Hospital on Oct. 14 in Pendleton.

SALEM — Flu season got rolling in a big way this last couple of weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates 2.6 million cases of flu, 23,000 hospitalizations and 1,300 flu-related deaths already this year.

One indicator of whether flu is here is the percentage of flu samples testing positive.

“It hit 10% two weeks ago,” said Dr. Ann Thomas, public health physician for the Oregon Health Authority. “That’s when things take off. It’s still trending upward.”

Fu has sickened more than 1,300 Oregonians. Last year, by this time, fewer than 400 cases had been confirmed. Nationally, 1,300 people have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Umatilla County hospitals and schools are experiencing more flu-like illness.

St. Anthony Hospital spokeswoman Emily Smith said the hospital emergency department has seen 50 positive cases so far this season, with activity reaching a new high this week. Over 80% of patients with confirmed flu had not been vaccinated and all of the cases tested as type B influenza. The hospital is restricting visits by children to the birthing center.

Good Shepherd Medical Center didn’t supply requested flu data by press time.

School attendance has fallen because of illness in Pendleton schools.

“We’re down a little bit from normal,” said Pendleton School District Superintendent Chris Fritsch. “We’re hovering around 80% attendance.”

Sherwood Elementary School Principal Rhonda Smith said illness has definitely touched her school. On a recent day, attendance was 78%.

“We have quite a few kids who have been sent home or stayed home with an illness and some teachers have been absent too,” Smith said. “Our custodians have gone through the building and done extra disinfecting.”

Teachers are encouraging students to wash their hands.

Hermiston School District Communications Officer Maria Duron said flu is top-of-mind at schools in her district. Attendance is slightly lower than last November and December, going from about 93% in 2018 to 91.5% this year.

Duron said the district sent a newsletter to families describing prevention measures and giving guidelines for keeping sick students at home. She said teachers are reminding students to wash hands and use hand sanitizer throughout the day.

“Students are being sent home at the first sign of illness regardless of temperature,” Duron said.

And county-wide, “we’re definitely seeing some spikes,” said Joe Fiumara, director of Umatilla County Public Health.

Fiumara pointed to a Oregon Health Authority graph that illustrates influenza-like illness observed in clinics and hospitals around the state. An orange line representing Eastern Oregon shoots sharply up in mid-November, dips, and then shoots higher to almost 7% by last Friday. In comparison, the rest of the state hovers between 2% and 4%. Nationwide 3.2% of patient visits were because of flu-like illness, according to the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance Network.

Fiumara urged caution as people head into Christmas week.

“This is definitely the season for sharing,” he said. “There are a lot of things going around right now, not just the flu. Stay at home, cover your cough, wash your hands.”

Type B influenza is causing most of the flu activity this year, which is unusual.

“It’s sort of an odd year in that we’re seeing a lot of type B,” Thomas said. “Usually it’s almost all A or A with a fair amount of B, but this year in Oregon, the majority is B.”

Thomas urged people to take precautions to protect themselves and also people who are at risk, such as those with chronic conditions, the very young and old and pregnant women.

It’ll be a while before effectiveness of this year’s vaccine is determined, but it likely won’t be a perfect match, she said. During the six months required for culturing, the virus invariably mutates.

Even if it isn’t the best vaccine, it’s the one we’ve got, Thomas said, and even in a year when the vaccine is not a good match, it can reduce severity and prevent hospitalization and death.

“That’s a win,” Thomas said. “It’s not too late to get a shot.”

———

Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0810.