City schedules clinics to combat widespread flu in state

LYNN – The Lynn Health Clinic will hold two flu clinics later this month in answer to the Center for Disease Control’s announcement that Massachusetts is one of 25 states reporting widespread flu.”We’ve given out well over 2,000 doses, but we do have additional,” said Health Director MaryAnn O’Connor.Widespread means that more than 50 percent of geographic regions in a state are reporting flu, but it addresses only the spread of the flu, not its severity.Harriet Sanclemente, a registered nurse and program manager for North Shore Urgent Care, said she has seen an increase in flu-related illnesses. The top two illnesses include upper respiratory infections with a cough and the flu virus.Dr. Meaghan Crowley, North Shore Physicians Group internal medicine physician, said her office in Salem has had many cases of flu-like symptoms, however, only one confirmed case of the flu.According to the state’s Department of Public Health, the first report of the new year shows the rates of flu-like illnesses are continuing to climb. In fact, DPH statistics show that as of Jan. 2, reports of the flu, or flu-like illnesses, have increased significantly. In November, less than 100 cases had been reported, but that number nearly doubled by the end of the year.O’Connor called the flu a disease of the body’s breathing system, including the nose, throat and lungs. According to the city’s public health website, the most common symptoms are fever, cough and sore throat, and, unlike cold symptoms, flu symptoms hit hard and fast, and can last from a few days to a week or more.The flu also spreads easily from person to person through sneezes or by touching items like doorknobs, phones or toys that someone infected may also have touched. You can lower your chance of getting sick or getting someone else sick by covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, wash your hands a lot, clean common objects, like phones, doorknobs, refrigerator handles, well with household cleaner, and, if you’re sick, stay home.State officials expect the flu will continue to spread well into March or possibly later, and the best protection is a vaccination.