SWINE FLU & SYMPTOMS

Flu strain B makes a late, spring appearance

    A woman receives a vaccine in this Star-Ledger file photo. (Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger)

Old Man Winter is clearly intent on hanging around as long as possible.

And we’re not talking scattered flurries.

We’re talking the flu.

Influenza, which had begun to wane last month, has made a springtime resurgence. In the latest report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all regions of New Jersey once again show the spread of flu is now rated as high, rebounding from its previous level of moderate.

"Looking at New Jersey, what’s striking is it’s much more widespread there than we’re seeing in other states," said Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the CDC’s National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases.

This April flu is a different strain than its winter counterpart. Hitting now is Influenza B, not the H1N1 swine flu that struck earlier.

At the Ocean Medical Center in Brick, they’ve seen an uptick in patients over the last three weeks, said Nancy Kerr, manager of infection control there.

Flu patients have ranged in age from 8 to 60, with the majority falling in the 25- to 40-year-old range. That’s an age group that typically has a lower vaccination rate than the elderly.

The B strain of flu has been particularly hard on children, McDonald said. The CDC said this season’s flu vaccine was a good match for both the H1N1 and the B strain now circulating. People who got immunized last fall need not get a new shot; its protection is still active, according to the CDC.

For most of those who didn’t get a flu shot, it makes little sense to get one now, said Kerr. Since it takes a few weeks for the vaccine to become fully effective, it would start to work just as the flu season is expected to fade.

The only people who might consider a vaccine at this point would be those who have some underlying medical reason that would make them vulnerable to developing pneumonia.

Although the two strains of flu are different, the ailments feel the same to the patient, Kerr said. They both have a sudden onset and are marked by fever, chills, and headache. "They’re pretty much similar," she said.

As to when the flu will finally be gone, she predicts the end of April.