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Has Flu Become Epidemic?

Aired December 11, 2003 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, the E-word. The CDC, Centers For Disease Control Prevention, and more vaccine.
As you know if you've been watching CNN, the health secretary, Tommy Thompson, just announced a quarter-million new doses of flu vaccine are on the way from Europe; 100,000 adult dose should arrive by the end of the week; 150,000 children's doses are due some time next month. At the same briefing, the director for the CDC used the word epidemic to talk about this year's outbreak. The flu now is considered widespread in 24 states, up from 13 just a week ago.

The virus is confirmed in 47 states. And we're still weeks from the typical peak of influenza season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: This is a situation that's unfolding. We are very appreciative to have some extra flu doses, so that we can prioritize those people who need them the most. But the flu season is far from over. And we can expect ongoing shortages of the vaccine. So we're going to have to really focus on the other steps that we can take to help contain this outbreak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: With influenza vaccine shortages reported nationwide, Americans are looking for other ways of protecting themselves from the deadly virus.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some advice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the biggest questions I get asked often is, what are the differences between the cold and the flu? Certainly, people talking a lot about the flu shots. But how do you know if you have the flu or not?

Well, there's a bunch of things to look at, specifically, looking at fever. With a cold, that's going to be pretty rare. With the flu, the fever is going to be high and last three or four days. Headaches, rare with a cold, often very prominent with the flu as well. Aches, people get these muscle aches, slight, slight muscle aches with a cold only, pretty profound muscle aches now with the flu.

Exhaustion, almost never, you don't really get exhausted with the cold. But when you have the flu, you feel wiped out. One of the biggest things as well is, the flu often comes on suddenly. All of a sudden, you're sick. With a cold, it sort of lingers for a little while and then starts.

So, everyone has been talking about the flu shots, as I mentioned. What are some of the more practical things you can do? What are the five top tips that you can do, especially in the workplace? Here they are. First of all, stay home if you're sick. And that's a big thing. Talk to your boss about this. It's hard sometimes to ask for that day off. But if you're sick, if your fever is over 101, if you're developing muscle aches, it's probably best to stay home, so that you don't get the rest of the workplace sick as well.

Avoid crowds. You have got to be a little bit of hermit this season. Don't go out there and be in crowds. You're going to at least find sick people in there for sure. You want to try and avoid that as well. Three feet away, that's the amount of distance you need to keep between you and a sick person. You can get germs spread by people sneezing, coughing at you as well.

Sanitize common surfaces. And, also, wash your hands. People talk about that really not enough, even though we talk about it at all. A couple things I wanted to point out. First of all, in common desk surfaces, we have this hand sanitizer here. Bacteria will live on a desk surface for about 72 hours.

So people who work at your desk during the day can leave something that can potentially infect you at night, 72 hours. Wipe your desk. Wipe your phone. The number of bacteria on your desk, about 400 times the number on a toilet seat, kind of disgusting, but important to keep that in perspective.

We've got keep kleenex as well, kleenex. Keep kleenex around you. You want to cough or sneeze into a kleenex, constantly be wiping your hands as well with a hand sanitizer. That's very important, four to five times a day. If you can use soap and water, great. Keep one of these things on your desk. Wash your hands as frequently as possible.

Good luck trying to avoid the flu -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: All right, you can e-mail us your questions about the flu, from vaccine to prevention and treatment and then tune in at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday for "WEEKEND HOUSE CALL." Sanjay Gupta never gets a day off. He'll bring you the latest news on the outbreak. Plus, he had an expert. And he'll be taking your questions as well. You can e-mail us now, however: housecall -- all one word -- @CNN.com.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 11, 2003 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, the E-word. The CDC, Centers For Disease Control Prevention, and more vaccine.
As you know if you've been watching CNN, the health secretary, Tommy Thompson, just announced a quarter-million new doses of flu vaccine are on the way from Europe; 100,000 adult dose should arrive by the end of the week; 150,000 children's doses are due some time next month. At the same briefing, the director for the CDC used the word epidemic to talk about this year's outbreak. The flu now is considered widespread in 24 states, up from 13 just a week ago.

The virus is confirmed in 47 states. And we're still weeks from the typical peak of influenza season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: This is a situation that's unfolding. We are very appreciative to have some extra flu doses, so that we can prioritize those people who need them the most. But the flu season is far from over. And we can expect ongoing shortages of the vaccine. So we're going to have to really focus on the other steps that we can take to help contain this outbreak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: With influenza vaccine shortages reported nationwide, Americans are looking for other ways of protecting themselves from the deadly virus.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some advice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the biggest questions I get asked often is, what are the differences between the cold and the flu? Certainly, people talking a lot about the flu shots. But how do you know if you have the flu or not?

Well, there's a bunch of things to look at, specifically, looking at fever. With a cold, that's going to be pretty rare. With the flu, the fever is going to be high and last three or four days. Headaches, rare with a cold, often very prominent with the flu as well. Aches, people get these muscle aches, slight, slight muscle aches with a cold only, pretty profound muscle aches now with the flu.

Exhaustion, almost never, you don't really get exhausted with the cold. But when you have the flu, you feel wiped out. One of the biggest things as well is, the flu often comes on suddenly. All of a sudden, you're sick. With a cold, it sort of lingers for a little while and then starts.

So, everyone has been talking about the flu shots, as I mentioned. What are some of the more practical things you can do? What are the five top tips that you can do, especially in the workplace? Here they are. First of all, stay home if you're sick. And that's a big thing. Talk to your boss about this. It's hard sometimes to ask for that day off. But if you're sick, if your fever is over 101, if you're developing muscle aches, it's probably best to stay home, so that you don't get the rest of the workplace sick as well.

Avoid crowds. You have got to be a little bit of hermit this season. Don't go out there and be in crowds. You're going to at least find sick people in there for sure. You want to try and avoid that as well. Three feet away, that's the amount of distance you need to keep between you and a sick person. You can get germs spread by people sneezing, coughing at you as well.

Sanitize common surfaces. And, also, wash your hands. People talk about that really not enough, even though we talk about it at all. A couple things I wanted to point out. First of all, in common desk surfaces, we have this hand sanitizer here. Bacteria will live on a desk surface for about 72 hours.

So people who work at your desk during the day can leave something that can potentially infect you at night, 72 hours. Wipe your desk. Wipe your phone. The number of bacteria on your desk, about 400 times the number on a toilet seat, kind of disgusting, but important to keep that in perspective.

We've got keep kleenex as well, kleenex. Keep kleenex around you. You want to cough or sneeze into a kleenex, constantly be wiping your hands as well with a hand sanitizer. That's very important, four to five times a day. If you can use soap and water, great. Keep one of these things on your desk. Wash your hands as frequently as possible.

Good luck trying to avoid the flu -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: All right, you can e-mail us your questions about the flu, from vaccine to prevention and treatment and then tune in at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday for "WEEKEND HOUSE CALL." Sanjay Gupta never gets a day off. He'll bring you the latest news on the outbreak. Plus, he had an expert. And he'll be taking your questions as well. You can e-mail us now, however: housecall -- all one word -- @CNN.com.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com