Flu season set to stir up Ebola fears

US issues flyer about symptoms illnesses share

After weeks of Ebola panic, false alarms and quibbles over quarantine in the United States, health authorities are bracing for a new battle: flu season.

The end of October marks the start of influenza season, bringing with it the predictable sniffles, sneezes, fever and aches that can extend well into the spring months.

But this year is different for two reasons. First is the Ebola epidemic in West Africa that spilled into the US when a Liberian man traveled to Texas in September and infected two nurses who helped care for him.

The second is the late summer outbreak of enterovirus D68, a respiratory illness that has affected more than 1,100 people in 46 states since August, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Most areas of the country are reporting a decline in EV-D68, but seven states, including California, say they are still seeing increases.

There is no vaccine against EV-D68, which has been linked to paralysis and neurological symptoms in a small number of child patients.

Nor is there any treatment on the market to cure or prevent Ebola, though experimental vaccines are being fast-tracked.

The prospect of facing all three illnesses in a single season has led the CDC to start a public education campaign to help people understand the risks, and to remind people to get their annual flu vaccine.

"There may be some public concern or confusion between seasonal influenza and Ebola this season, "a CDC spokes-woman said, citing past experience with fears over the Middle East respiratory syndrome and Severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Similar symptoms

"Flu-like symptoms in US residents this flu season will most likely be caused by seasonal influenza, not Ebola."

Flu and Ebola share some common symptoms, such as fever, headache, fatigue and aches and pains.

But there are big differences, too. Influenza causes cough, sore throat and runny nose, while Ebola does not.

Ebola leads to vomiting and diarrhea within three to six days, severe weakness and stomach-pain, as well as unexplained bleeding and bruising.

To illustrate these differences, the CDC has issued a flyer titled "Fluor Ebola?" that offers aside-by side comparison.

The print is accompanied by graphics, including one person sneezing on another to show how flu transmits by droplets spewed when sick people cough, sneeze or talk.

"Ebola can only be spread by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids," the flyer says.

As part of increased screening measures, patients around the country are now asked to fill out a questionnaire asking if they have traveled to West Africa recently and if they have any Ebola symptoms.

"Every body is screening now, in outpatient offices, in hospital emergency rooms, in ambulatory centers," said Debra Spice-handler, an infectious disease expert at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York.

"The only problem is we are all spending a lot of time getting prepared for Ebola, so we may have lost our focus ab it on influenza and preparation for the influenza season."

AFP - AP

(China Daily 11/01/2014 page11)