West Texas Death Toll Rises in Flu-Related Cases

The onset of the flu season has hit the state like a hammer, contributing to the deaths of four San Angeloans at Shannon Hospital since December. 

Health officials are urging precaution, stating the virus is considered widespread and describing the virus as one that doesn't discriminate on age. 

“What we started to see before Christmas is folks showing up in our ER in complete respiratory failure,” said Dr. Irvin Zeitler of Shannon Medical Center. “They couldn’t breathe, they were intubated and had to be on artificial ventilation.”

He also mentioned that a fifth patient also came to the Emergency Room in respiratory failure, but is still in the Intensive Care Unit. The patient is not expected to survive.

San Angelo is not the only city experiencing such severe symptoms of the flu. Abilene has had four flu-related deaths and Beaumont had eight as of mid-afternoon.

“They don’t call them epidemics anymore, it’s categorized as widespread,” Zeitler explained, then went on to describe the difference this year.

“Consequently, it’s not a typical flu season we’re seeing,” he said. “For whatever reason, it is young people.”

Zeitler explained that the majority of cases have been between 38 and 59 years of age, including the four fatalities, rather than the elderly that is typical of a normal flu season.

In addition, the virus is not thought to be the sole cause of death.

“In this situation, and this is corroborated throughout the state, they  have co-morbidities like diabetes or COPD,” Zeitler said.

The disease load that the body has to fight makes a huge impact on the severity of the virus.

“[The vaccine is] about 60 to 70 percent protective and a lot of that depends on the patient’s immune level,” he explained. “If they have diabetes or heart disease then they have more trouble fighting it.”

Many patients with additional co-morbidities are currently hospitalized at Shannon, a total of 28, which is far above the usual six or seven patients.

“A lot of these folks are pre-Medicare,” said Zeitler. “You normally see Medicare patients in the hospital for flu.”

This is reminiscent of the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak, of which the virus H1N1 has made a comeback this year.

“We know it’s influenza A,” Zeitler explained. “The health department is reporting 90 percent H1N1 so we’d be surprised if it was anything but.”

As far as preventative measures go, the usual hand washing and cough covering go far in limiting the spread of sickness, doctors say.

Influenza is spread through droplets, so avoiding other people while sick, or avoiding sick people’s sneezes is good advice.

“It’s almost impossible to know how long they (deceased patients) had it before they went into respiratory failure,” Zeitler stated. “They waited until it was too late to treat it.”

Because of the early start to flu season, which normally runs late January through the end of March, as well as the severity of the flu, the Shannon Clinic's main campus at120 E. Beauregard is offering a Flu Vaccination Clinic open to public, no appointment necessary on Friday, Jan. 10 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The cost is $20.

“If you have any shortness of breath do not wait, come in immediately,” Zeitler implores. “If you’re having respiratory troubles, regardless of the risk, you need to be seen.”