This year’s flu season is one of the worst in years and many more people are contracting one of the many strains of flu that has spread faster than gossip across the nation. It seems that almost every day or two, the news reports on another child who died of the flu, many of them were healthy, but died within days of first exhibiting symptoms.

We were worried for our neighbor’s youngest son who was diagnosed with the flu earlier this week, but thankfully, he seems to be recovering.

We’ve also heard of a number of healthy adults who got the flu and died. I recall hearing about one woman, a wife and mother who was healthy, fit and even ran marathons, who died within a few days of getting the flu. Our oldest daughter (she’s 41) had a flu several weeks ago and thankfully neither her husband nor my wife or I caught it.

All of the news of the flu epidemic is frightening to many including myself. I have a severely suppressed immune system and seem to catch the slightest thing and when I do, I run high fevers that can easily last for 5-7 days. With reports of how many are coming down with the flu and how many are being hospitalized and how many are dying, I’m almost afraid to leave the house, even for church on Sundays.

Then I found this report that only adds to my concern and worry.

“Older adults always get hit hard with flu, with up to 85% of flu deaths usually happening in those age 65 and older, the CDC says.”

“Yet doctors are less likely to order a flu test for adults in that age group, and they could miss diagnosing the flu, new research finds.”

“Flu symptoms in older adults can differ from those of younger people, says Keipp Talbot, MD, associate professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She is the senior author of the new study, published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. ‘Not everyone who has flu has a fever, especially those over age 65,’ she says…”

“Missing a flu diagnosis can be especially dangerous in older adults, as they are more likely to get complications from the flu than younger people. Up to 75% of flu hospitalizations are in that older age group. Antiviral drugs that can make the flu less severe should be given within 2 days of the start of symptoms.”

One of the problems noted in the study was the older patients are less likely to report having a fever than younger ones and based upon that, fewer doctors will order a flu test. They also found a difference between the location where the doctors practiced. The study found that an academic hospital was twice as likely to order a flu test than were three community hospitals.

They also found that fewer older people were given anti-viral drugs than younger patients.

If you think you have the flu, you may need to insist that your doctor tests you for the flu and if the test confirms that you have it, demand to be given anti-viral medication as soon as possible. The medication doesn’t necessarily cure the flu, but it helps to lessen the symptoms and shorten the duration of the illness, thus increasing one’s chance of survival.