Flu Season: Menino declares public health emergency in Boston
Boston Business Journal
by Galen Moore, Web Editor
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 11:52am EST - Last Modified: Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 12:24pm EST
2013 flu season: Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has
declared a public health emergency in the Hub, and is recommending flu
shots in a particularly bad flu season, this year.
With reports showing a
bad 2013 flu season that's likely to get worse before it gets better, Mayor
Thomas Menino has issued a public health emergency in the city of Boston, a spokeswoman for his office said.
The mayor's office is encouraging Bostonians to get flu shots. The
state of public health emergency means the mayor's office and city
public health officials will be working with public health centers
around Boston to offer free vaccination clinics.
A news release from the mayor's office is expected later today, with
more specific recommendations for citizens, issued by the city's
Department of Public Health.
As many as 18 people have died in Massachusetts from the virulent 2013 flu season,
public health officials reportedly said today. In another
report published today, Dr.
Brian Barnewolt, chairman of emergency medicine at
Tufts Medical Center, told the Boston Herald this year's flu season could last through March and maybe into April. Dr.
Anita Barry
reportedly told the Herald there have been 700 reported cases of flu in
Boston since Oct. 1, 10 times last year's number for the same period –
and the number is likely to grow.
We're well into the 2013 flu season, but
doctors are still recommending flu shots.
The bad flu season is blamed on a particularly virulent strain of
flu, A N3H2, that has emerged as the dominant strain of the 2012-2013
flu season. Its emergence led public health officials to
issue warnings and recommend flu shots as early as the first week of December.
end quote from:
Flu Season: Menino declares public health emergency in Boston
CBC.ca
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