GUEST VIEW: It's not too late to fight off the flu

Opinion

Related Photos

Thomas Cumbo, M.D. --

Discussion

January 12, 2013

GUEST VIEW: It's not too late to fight off the flu

By Thomas Cumbo Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Sat Jan 12, 2013, 11:25 PM EST

Niagara Gazette — In recent weeks, there has been a sizable increase in the number and severity of influenza cases seen both here in Western New York and across the country as a whole. Physicians have experienced this increase in both the outpatient and inpatient setting.

Our local emergency rooms and hospitals have been quite busy, much of which is due to patients who are ill with influenza or influenza-related illnesses. Waiting times in the emergency rooms have been very long. As a result, we propose to give you well-established generic advice to help you to reduce your risk of contracting influenza (the flu) and other associated conditions such as secondary bacterial pneumonia. Preventative measures to reduce the risk of contracting the flu include but are not limited to: thorough and frequent hand washing, fully covering your mouth whenever you sneeze or cough, taking proper care of dietary and sleep needs and finally, being inoculated with the influenza vaccine, if you have no contraindications to doing so.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that the strains of the influenza virus which are circulating this year have been reasonably well-covered in this year’s vaccine. Although the vaccine may not prevent the flu in all people, it may make the illness less severe if you have had the injection. If, despite all of the above precautions, you do become ill with flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, muscle aches, etc.), please first call your doctor. Do not immediately go to a hospital or emergency department unless you are experiencing severe or worrisome symptoms. Your physician may prescribe some anti-viral medications which, if given soon enough, may sufficiently help to minimize the extent and severity of your illness enough to keep you from having to go to the emergency room and the hospital. Your physician will also advise you which symptoms do require a visit to the emergency department or hospital. It is certainly not too late to get the vaccine. There are still several months left to flu season. Please promptly contact your health care provider if you have special needs or considerations that require expert evaluation to avoid or lessen the effects of this year’s influenza outbreak.

Thomas Cumbo, M.D. is the division head of Infectious Disease at Mount St. Mary's Hospital.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Opinion

LETTERS FROM THE ISLAND: Memorial added breath of life We've observed Memorial Day already, we just didn't realize it.
May 25, 2013 1 Photo
HAMILTON: Mona - that little old woman who could Wrotniak's Highland restaurant was consumed in flames not long ago. Witnesses say that it was young children. Now all that remain is a charred hulk of brick and mortar that is fit for nothing more than the wrecker's ball. It not only reflects too many of the once vibrant buildings that lined the streets of a once-vibrant city that is now trading businesses and owner-occupied homes for subsidized government housing, wherein now lies the dreams of prosperity that are just as dark and bleak as the remains of Wrotniak's.
May 24, 2013 1 Photo
GUEST VIEW: Background on the Boston Marathon tragedy
We have had massive coverage of and innumerable opinions proffered on the recent, riveting Boston Marathon tragedy; but it seems to me that the long historical view can provide added illumination concerning this horrendous drama of April 2013.

May 24, 2013 1 Photo
GLYNN: Poll shows public upset with Albany scandals Area state lawmakers including a few Republicans who like to bask in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's reflected glory should take a closer look at the latest Siena College Poll results. Those coattails may not help in the next election, unless there's a dramatic reversal in the way state government operates. While Cuomo is hardly to blame for all the embarrassing mess on Capitol Hill, he still is the state Chief Executive of the system becoming more dysfunctional every day, according to the Siena findings. (In the words of a famous American, shouldn't the buck stop at the governor's desk?)
May 23, 2013 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: Give our visitors something to write home about Company is coming and we're not ready. But we can take comfort in the fact that hardly anyone is ever ready.
May 23, 2013
BRADBERRY: Peaceful place to learn, to think More famous as the birthplace of "I Love Lucy's" Lucille Ball, and NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, Jamestown, New York is a well preserved vestige of rural Americana.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
DELUCA: Poetry, in motion
Bob Baxter sent me his new book of poems the other day and I promised to read them. But, when I tried to open the book, I couldn't. I've always been prejudiced against poetry.

He knew of my dislike, but as a retired creative writing professor, had hoped the poems from “Niagara Lost and Found” might soften me toward one of his favorite art forms.

Sadly, my disdain was set in place long ago, in reaction to teachers who could not help me understand.

May 22, 2013 1 Photo
CONFER: When will the college bubble burst? The bursting of the housing bubble was the unquestioned cause of the Great Recession. After years of unprecedented growth in the housing market that saw home ownership and home values rise dramatically, the collective bad decisions of homebuyers, banks, and government finally caught up to the economy at large.
May 20, 2013 1 Photo
CITY DESK: Buffalo bears, oh my! It's bad enough those "secretive" Buffalo interests are always trying to co-op our city and our good name with all their grant money and what not.
May 20, 2013 1 Photo
HIGGS: Still in high school Local Architect Clinton Brown recently described the style of the 168,000-square-foot building housing the Niagara Falls High School at the corner of Portage Road and Pine Avenue as "a three-story structure with concrete and steel structure, cut stone and masonry façade and classical inspired details. These include the hierarchical and symmetrical main and secondary facades, a central porch with six two-story engaged columns and the balustrade main staircase to the front doors and upper porch. The original four-over-four hung windows have been replaced with shorter aluminum sliding windows with
May 20, 2013 1 Photo
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

GUEST VIEW: It's not too late to fight off the flu

Site Map

Contact Us