Kentucky has recorded 26 flu-related deaths, mostly seniors, and 64 outbreaks at long-term-care facilities; get vaccinated!

Kentucky has reported 26 influenza-related deaths and 64 flu outbreaks in long-term care facilities as of Jan. 8 after five consecutive weeks of widespread flu activity, and is only halfway through the flu season, which runs from October through May, a top state health official said Thursday, Jan. 8.

And with the flu season in full swing and not expected to improve any time soon, Deputy Health Commissioner Kraig Humbaugh said it's not too late to get a flu shot and "Practically everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine." He added, "Even though this year's flu vaccine is not as well matched to covering the circulating strains as we would like to see, it is still the best way to prevent the flu."

"The types of people that are likely to experience severe illness are the young, the elderly, pregnant women and people with chronic illness," Humbaugh said. "That is why we especially want those folks to receive a flu vaccine each year."

Last flu season, there were approximately 50 flu-related deaths. "All areas of the state have been affected by flu deaths and have been affected by the circulating flu this year," Humbaugh said.

He noted that 19 of the 26 reported deaths were among people 65 and older. He encouraged seniors to get vaccinated because they have the highest risk of complications from the flu and are most likely to be hospitalized because of it. Typically,70 percent of seniors are vaccinated. Among the other reported deaths, two were children and five were aged 18 to 64.

Humbaugh also suggested that "the old advice that your mother gave you still applies" to stay healthy: Wash your hands well and often, don't touch your mouth and nose unnecessarily, and avoid large crowds and contact with sick people. He reminded those who are sick to stay home from work or school and to sneeze into their elbow to avoid spreading the flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging doctors to prescribe more antiviral medication to help patients heal faster, saying in a news release, "Evidence from the current and previous influenza seasons suggests that they are severely underutilized."

Humbaugh said, "People who are sick with the flu can potentially benefit from an anti-viral medication, such as Tamiflu or Rolenza." He noted that the drugs must be prescribed by a health provider and work best if taken during within the first two days of illness. No widespread shortages of these antiviral medications have been reported.

Long-term care facilities across the state have reported 64 flu outbreaks, meaning they have one or more cases of flu in their facility, this flu season. Facilities are working with the state to determine how to control outbreaks, Humbaugh said. He encouraged those with the flu to stay away from these facilities and for the public to respect the rules put in place at these facilities to protect this most vulnerable population from the flu.

Flu makes UK HealthCare tighten visitation rules

UK HealthCare has temporarily changed its visitation policy to help protect its patients and health care workers during the flu season, the University of Kentucky said in a news release. The measures include:

• No visitors under the age of 12
• No visitors with any symptoms of flu-like illness
• Only two visitors will be permitted in a patient’s room at one time
• Visitors may be issued masks or other protective clothing for use when visiting
• Additional restrictions may be in place in special care units such as women's and children’s units, critical care and oncology units.
• Compassionate visitation exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

These measures are for all UK HealthCare inpatient units, which include UK Chandler Hospital, Kentucky Children's Hospital, UK Good Samaritan Hospital and Eastern State Hospital.

Kentucky is among 29 states and territories reporting widespread flu, which is the highest level and means at least half the regions in the state have reported confirmed cases of the flu. Last year at this time four states had reported widespread flu, says the release.

Flu symptoms can include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that some of the nation's circulating flu viruses have not been covered by this years vaccine, it is still recommended that everyone six months of age and older get a flu shot.

"A flu vaccine is still the first and best way to prevent influenza," Kim Blanton, enterprise director for infection prevention and control at UK HealthCare, said in the release.

Flu antiviral drugs are available and work best for treatment when they are started within two days of getting sick. However, starting them later can still be helpful, especially if the sick person has a high risk health condition or is very sick from the flu, says the release.

It is also important to wash your hands often, avoid people who are sick and stay home if you are sick to help prevent it from spreading.

African clinics to begin testing Ebola treatments; one made from tobacco in Kentucky isn't plentiful enough to be part of effort

Doctors Without Borders will begin testing three experimental therapies to treat Ebola in December, bypassing the traditional progression of testing and giving the treatments directly to infected patients, Alice Park reports for Time magazine.

Driving this decision is the death toll, which has surpassed 5,000, with more than 14,000 patients still affected in West Africa, Park reports.

“We are on the front line, and when you have a disease that kills 50 percent to 70 percent of patients, then we have a certain responsibility to try to do our best to host trials for treatments in our facilities,” without waiting for the usual testing, Bertrand Draguez, medical director of Doctors Without Borders, told Park.

The treatment ZMapp, a combination of antibodies that was given to two U.S. aid workers who survived the infection, will not be one of the treatments because it is not available in enough doses to properly test in West Africa, Park reports. ZMapp is manufactured from a unique tobacco leaves grown in Owensboro, Ky.

The treatments that will be tested are the antiviral drug favipiravir, the antiviral drug brincidofovir, and whole blood and plasma from Ebola survivors.

Draguez told Park that the two antiviral drugs "rose to the top of the list because of a combination of their promise in controlling the Ebola virus and their availability," plus their ease of distribution; they are in pills, taken orally.

Patients will be given detailed information about the treatments and given the option of taking the experimental therapies, Park reports.

The World Health Organization recently announced plans to test two vaccines in West Africa as well.

These trials are a "good first step" in how best to treat Ebola, and while they might not help those currently infected, will be "invaluable for the inevitable outbreaks that emerge in the future," Park writes.

Experimental drug being used to treat Ebola is being manufactured using special tobacco plants in Owensboro

A unique type of tobacco grown in Owensboro is used to manufacture the ZMapp compound that was given to two Americans who then survived Ebola. The company that produced it, Kentucky BioProcessing, has since gone into "full-scale production of the drug," Janet Patton reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"All of our focus is solely on ZMapp production. We're hoping our efforts can help expedite the drug approval process," David Howard, spokesman for Reynolds American, the tobacco company that owns the facility that makes pharmaceuticals from tobacco, told Patton. The genetic makeup of tobacco makes it an easy vehicle for genetic engineering.

The drug has been sent to government agencies for testing, but it hasn't been used on any more patients since the two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who have since recovered, were given the drug, Patton writes. She also noted that "it's uncertain whether the ZMapp helped cure Brantly or Writebol," but the drug has shown "promising results in testing in primates and mice, curing most of them even after they showed signs of infection."

ZMapp is "a cocktail of antibodies that has been proven to be the most effective treatment so far in fighting off the Ebola virus," Patton writes in a separate article. It was developed while working under contract for the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies to be a "post-exposure treatment for Ebola virus."

The process involves growing a unique tobacco plant and "infecting" the plant with a protein that will "battle the Ebola." The protein then reproduces inside the tobacco plant "like a photocopier." And when ready, the desired proteins are extracted from the plants and put into a serum, Patton reports.

According to the website of Mapp Biopharmaceutical, a company that collaborates with Kentucky BioProcessing, the supply of ZMapp was used up in August, Patton reports.

In September, the federal government announced that it had given Mapp an 18-month contract for as much as $42.3 million for "the development and manufacturing of the medication ZMapp toward the goal of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval," Patton reports.

Mapp says it is is conducting studies that will help determine the safety and efficacy of the drug while improving its manufacturing process, increasing yields and scale.

"The Department of Health and Human Services is also in advanced discussions to enlist Caliber Biotherapeutics, a Texas company that can produce the drug in millions of tobacco plants," according to federal officials and pharmaceutical industry executives, Andrew Pollack reports for The New York Times.

He reports that federal officials along with two of the world's biggest charities are also looking at arranging for production of ZMapp in animal cells, a more conventional method that takes longer, but allows for for greater output.

But even if these new contracts are negotiated, Pollack reports that there will only be "hundreds or thousands of treatment courses by early next year, which would not be nearly enough if the epidemic continues to spiral out of control."