Doctors seeing “dramatic upsurge” in flu cases in Santa Barbara County

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The holiday season may be winding down, but flu season won't be ending anytime soon.

Dr. David Fisk, an infectious disease physician at Sansum Clinic and Cottage Health in Santa Barbara, says so far, this year’s flu season has been unusual: the so-called ‘B’ strain of the flu has dominated to this point. That strain doesn't typically emerge until late in the season.

“Influenza B typically infects only the elderly and infants,” Fisk said. “But this year we’re seeing Influenza B throughout the whole age range of the population.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the ‘B’ strain of the flu generally changes more slowly than the ‘A’ strain, but that doesn’t mean it’s harmless.

“Either of these [strains] can be bad,” Fisk said. “And either of these can be fatal. There have been more than 50 cases that have led to death in California already this season. And the majority of those have been Influenza B… right now we really have to be on our guard against both of these.”

And just recently, Influenza A began breaking out locally.

“Over the last few weeks, there’s been a very dramatic upsurge in the prevalence in the amount of influenza circulating in Santa Barbara County,” Fisk said. “This is really the crunch time for this infection.”

Fisk says it’s important to wash hands and cover coughs with a tissue or elbow. He also says it’s not too late to get a flu shot. The ‘B’ strain that’s been circulating is already part of this year’s vaccine.

But as 2020 begins, more and more people across the state are getting sick.

“Levels right now appear to be higher than the levels we had last year,” Fisk said. “So how high it will go, we don’t know. But certainly we are on notice that we may have a bumpy road ahead.”