Flu Cases In Williamson County 'Moderate, But Increasing'

CEDAR PARK, TX — With the flu season in full swing — amid a more forceful outbreak than in the past two years — Williamson County has not been immune, with the number of confirmed cases of the illness just more than 200 in the last week.

Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) officials have released a report detailing local trends as it relates to the flu. In the analysis, health officials report 12 flu outbreaks this week, 10 of them occurring at long-term care facilities (nursing homes and the like) and another two at daycare facilities. The health district defines an outbreak as one occurring when there are two or more flu patients at a single facility, officials noted.

All told, the number of confirmed flu cases hovers just above the 200 mark. There have been no pediatric deaths this year, although it's unknown whether any other deaths have occurred as a result of infection. In Travis County, there have been 20 deaths blamed on the flu, health officials there said.

Related story: Travis County Flu Deaths Now 11 Amid Stronger Virus

Because the county does not receive death certificates, the health district is unable to track flu-related deaths (except for pediatric deaths), county spokeswoman Deb Strahler explained to Patch in a response to questions.

The point is buttressed in the report: "WCCHD does not receive death certificates as some other health departments do, and so has no method of reporting deaths in persons diagnosed with flu," researchers wrote.

"WCCHD would only report pediatric flu deaths as those are the only required reportable deaths," Strahler reiterated in an email to Patch. "Williamson County has had zero pediatric deaths reported to us this season."

Still, the district's exhaustively detailed report yields a wealth of data into what county health officials describe as a "moderate but increasing" flu season as of the week ending Jan. 13. Nationwide and across Texas, health officials said the flu season is reaching in peak.

In terms of the county, the first flu outbreak was reported Jan. 10 and the last one on Monday, according to the report. In the past week, 27.9 percent of specimens tested for flu were positive, the reports data show. "Only 7.3 percent of patient visits to clinics were for influenza-like illness (ILI) – that is, a fever of at least 101 degrees and a cough or sore throat without another known cause," researchers noted.

In contrast, the state percentage was somewhat higher at 8.3 percent, county health officials noted.

"In any given year, 5 to 20 percent of people get the flu," county officials wrote. "Flu season typically peaks in winter months. The Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) monitors flu activity through reports of flu tests and counts of patients with flu-like symptoms from hospitals, school districts, and selected clinics throughout the county."

Still, the full impact of the flu regionally is not known. County health officials are careful to point out that the available data are used to plot trends rather than providing exact numbers.

"Individual cases of flu are not required by law to be reported to the health department, except for outbreaks at facilities and pediatric deaths," helath officials noted. "WCCHD tracks flu data for trends in location and impact on the community rather than for estimating the total number of cases in the county."

In an email to Patch, Strahler buttressed the point while noting that its protocol in reporting on influenza is the conducted in Travis County. Dr. Philip Huang, medical director at the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, provides media outlets exact numbers of flu-related fatalities. Moreover, Huang has, unprompted, updated Patch via email when the number rises.

"Actually, WCCHD reports influenza in the same manner as Travis County," Strahler wrote in an email to Patch, in response to questions about methodology. "They also do not report a specific number of cases, only trending graphs with the disclaimer 'Austin/Travis County influenza surveillance does not attempt to capture all cases of influenza or influenza-like illness. These data should be used for trending purposes over time and for identifying types/strains of influenza that are occurring in the Austin area rather than for estimating the total number of cases.' "

She added that WCCHD publishes a detailed flu report each week during the flu season on the health district's home page. To view those reports, click here.

"WCCHD does not release 'numbers of cases' because we are confident that we do not have the actual number of cases, as we have no possible way of capturing all the ILI [influenza-like illness] and influenza cases in Williamson County," Strahler added in her email. "Again, the influenza surveillance report and any corresponding press releases are published only with the intent to show trends over time, as reporting has been consistently for multiple years."

The reasons for the lack of hard numbers are nuanced, as Strahler explained in her response to questions from Patch.

"Reporting 'numbers' would give a false sense of the influenza situation in Williamson County, because it is only a partial view," she explained. "We cannot report on all the cases, as we are not aware of them. Individual cases of influenza are not reportable; therefore, the only way to surveil properly is to gather general data from local reporters consistently."

Then there's the matter of patient privacy. Looking into health information on a patient not in the "reportable" category while investigating overall flu cases would be in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that was enacted by Congress in 1996, Strahler explained.

"Further, we have no authority to request follow-up data about influenza or ILI patients as it’s not reportable," Strahler wrote. "It would be against HIPAA to seek out additional protected health information about a non-reportable condition."

Whatever the true number, health officials urge residents to take precautions to avoid being felled by the flu. The advice is particularly urgent to people with weakened or compromised immune systems and young children whose immune systems aren't fully developed.

"Anyone can get the flu," county health officials noted. "Flu can be a serious illness, especially for older people, young children, pregnant women, and people with other illnesses like diabetes, or kidney, heart, or lung disease."

Short of confining one to the indoors with no human contact until May — the month to which the flu season can stretch — following are some safety tips to prevent infection as outlined by county health officials:

• Get vaccinated. "It’s not too late, and the vaccine still provides some protection," health officials wrote.
• Wash your hands often with warm, soapy water for 30 seconds.
• Stay home if you feel sick. Flu is very contagious.
• Cover your cough by coughing into your arm, not your hands.
• If you’re sick, ask your doctor about antiviral medications that may help speed your recovery.

To contact WCCHD regarding flu, visit www.wcchd.org or call the county's Disease Control and Prevention Division at 512-943-3660. Additionally, those seeking more information can visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at: www.cdc.gov/flu.

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