Sneezing, sniffling signs of cold and flu season

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

Those eligible for a free vaccine through Medicare or Medicaid must present an insurance card. For those not eligible, the cost is $15 for a flu immunization.

Vaccines are available at:

For information, call the Health District at 383-1351 or 383-1352.

Lisa Hughes doesn't need the county health department to tell her the cold and flu season has arrived -- all she needs to do is watch the customers who come into the Henderson juice bar where she works.

"Everyone's ordering the 'Coldbuster' special, and lots of people are trying wheat grass for the first time," said Hughes, who works at Jamba Juice on Green Valley Parkway. "They'll try anything if it means not getting sick like everyone else."

While influenza virus -- the one that sends robust adults to bed with chills and aches -- has not been confirmed in Nevada, Las Vegas residents have been besieged by the cold season, sniffling and suffering from sore throats and coughs, health officials said.

Health experts refer to these miseries, caused by viruses, as influenza-like illnesses. They attack the nose, throat and lungs just like influenza, but the flu is notorious for its sudden onset as well as fever, headache, exhaustion, dry cough and body aches.

And influenza is nothing to sneeze at, because an average of 20,000 people each year die from the flu in the United States, national health records show.

For major employers such as Harrah's and MGM MIRAGE, with 37,000 employees in Southern Nevada, prevention is better than a cure.

"We realize cold and flu season can affect our employees," MGM MIRAGE spokeswoman Shelley Manscholt said Thursday. That's why the company offered flu vaccines at $5 each to workers on a volunteer basis, she said.

While it's hard to track who's sick with what, Manscholt said that it appears most of the illnesses have been common colds and bronchitis.

"With this time of year, we do expect we are going to see an increase in colds and flu among our employees," David Strow, spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment, said. "That's pretty typical."

Like MGM MIRAGE, Harrah's has offered flu shots to its employees, Strow said.

"In any large service industry, where there's a lot of interaction with the public, you do expect to see an increase in exposure to colds and the flu," Strow said. "It's just a fact of life."

And flu shots aren't just for casino employees -- Las Vegas retirees Budd and Carolyn Bornhoft went to a walk-in health clinic for theirs in October.

Because the Bornhofts aren't in a high-risk group -- defined as the elderly or people with chronic diseases -- their insurance didn't cover the cost of the shot.

"We don't mind," Carolyn Bornhoft said. "It's worth $20 not to get sick."

Walgreen pharmacist Peter Riso said he is seeing plenty of cases of bronchitis and head colds, and people seeking medicine for them.

"People want quick fixes, but there really isn't anything that will tackle the flu," Riso said.

Because influenza and the related germs making Las Vegans miserable can't be treated with antibiotics, physicians usually prescribe them only if there is a secondary infection of the sinuses or ears, or a strep throat, he said.

Over-the-counter remedies relieve symptoms such as aches, fever and coughs, but can't kill the viruses causing the misery, Riso said.

For pharmacist Roger Ly at the Vons drugstore at Pecos Road and Wigwam Parkway, prescriptions for antibiotics and allergy medications have increased about 60 percent in the the last week or two.

A family with five children "nearly wiped out the pharmacy's pediatric antibiotics supply" on Thursday because all five kids and the mother needed medications, Ly said.

However, the demand for prescriptions is less than last year at this time, he said.

After the weather turned cooler and wetter Saturday, however, allergy sufferers arrived with prescriptions in hand, Ly said.

Bank teller Virginia McLean said she's keeping a close watch on her sinuses -- her own personal indicator of her cold and flu status. Her boyfriend has been laid up with the flu for a week and McLean fears she'll be next.

"I can feel it in my throat, the headache starting behind my eyes," McLean said. "But I'm trying to think positive; maybe it will skip me."

The Clark County Health District tracks the number of contagious diseases, including the flu, and dispenses immunizations.

Influenza and flu-like illnesses are reported to a national database kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, health district spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said.

The latest doctors' reports from eight Las Vegas-area offices or clinics indicated 210 cases of flu-like illnesses had been reported, Sizemore said.

That is up by about 35 cases since October, but it doesn't mean that the real flu has arrived in the Las Vegas Valley, Sizemore said.

As winter storms pound the nation, influenza spreads, and Sizemore said that it is not too late to get a flu shot. The flu could grip Southern Nevada through March, she said.

The vaccine is available at the health district, 625 Shadow Lane. For an appointment or more information, call 383-1351 or 383-1352.

Only six states have confirmed flu cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"Influenza activity has been low in the United States this season, but is expected to increase in the coming weeks and months," the CDC said in its weekly report on Thursday.

Influenza has been reported primarily in southern states, including Florida, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Hawaii has had a single case confirmed.

Nevada is one of 18 states reporting sporadic flu-like illnesses, the CDC said.