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Tuesday, January 14, 2014 – Daily News 5A Swine flu is back — and it's starting to kill again As Contra Costa County health officials on Tuesday announced the second recent Bay Area death this month from the virulent H1N1 flu strain, local counties reported an uptick in the number of people showing up in emergency rooms with flu-like symptoms. Officials said the peak of the flu season is just beginning and the numbers are relatively small compared to other parts of the country, but they reminded the public that there is still time to get vaccinated. "Some people think if they don't get it in the fall, it's too late," said Erika Jenssen, chief of communicable disease programs at the Department of Public Health in Contra Costa County, where 17 flu patients younger than 65 have recently been admitted to intensive care units. "The peak flu season in California comes January through March." While different types of the flu virus have surfaced across the country, a vast majority are suffering from the 2009 strain of H1N1, health officials say. This time, however, there is no shortage of vaccine to battle the strain. The East Bay victim, a 48-year-old woman, died last week, said Kate Fowlie, a spokeswoman with Contra Costa Health Services. The agency was made aware of her death Monday night, she said. A 41-year old Santa Clara County woman died of complications related to the H1N1 strain last week. And over the weekend, Sacramento County reported a second and third victim from the strain. The victims were a woman in her 30s and a man in his 50s. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recently reported that the flu is in full swing nationally. The latest CDC figures from the final week of 2013 show widespread flu activity in 25 states, including the Pacific Northwest and Nevada, and most of the country's biggest states, including Texas, New York and Illinois. In the 2009-10 flu season, 284,000 people died from swine flu worldwide. In Orange County, H1N1 killed a 28-yearold San Juan Capistrano woman last week. And three people in Stanislaus County died from swine flu in the last month, said Dr. John Walker, a county health officer. Classic flu symptoms include body aches, fever, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose and powerful bouts of sneezing. People like 17-yearold Sophia Duran, of San Jose, aren't taking chances. She didn't get a flu shot last year, but decided to get one Tuesday during a checkup at a Santa Clara County clinic. "It's important so I don't spread anything if I get the virus," said the Del Mar High School senior. At the Walgreens drug store in downtown San Jose, a pharmacist said that three people already had stopped by Tuesday by mid-afternoon to get a shot. While most of the people who came in for flu shots during the fall were elderly, now younger adults are showing up, the pharmacist said. In general, medical professionals split patients into two groups: low-risk patients with typical symptoms and those with severe symptoms who also have additional medical risk factors such as pregnancy, heart or lung disease, diabetes and asthma. Patients younger than 5 and those 65 and older are also considered high risk. The first patient group, typically given Advil and Motrin, are sent home for bed rest and told to drink lots of fluids and avoid contact with others. The latter group gets more attention and might even be hospitalized. "Patients with higher risk factors are told to have a follow-up visit with their own physicians," said Xavier Varela, a physician's assistant who works the ever-busy emergency room at Valley Medical Center. "But they are also the ones we tend to give anti-viral medicine — Tamiflu — which is in short supply nationwide." Health professionals, noting that vaccines are plentiful and easy to secure from hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, say there are no good excuses for someone not getting their shot. Still, people figure out a variety of ways to avoid it. "In my family, the flu shot makes us ill," said Maria Perez, 31, of San Jose. She said her sister, a nurse in Southern California, was told she either had to get the shot or wear a surgical mask during her work day. After two days of wearing the mask, Perez's sister decided to get a flu shot "and then she got sick for a week," Perez said. In downtown San Jose, construction worker Frank Martinez said he hasn't gotten the flu shot yet either. "I just don't do it," the 39-year-old said. "I never have because I don't get sick." Contra Costa County's Jenssen said that many people operate with plenty of flawed information about the flu. "I've had many people tell me, 'I don't get vaccinated, but when I feel sick, I stay home from work so I don't spread my germs,' " said the health official. "However, for someone with the flu who is not vaccinated, they can spread the germs a full day before they feel any symptoms. By the time they stay home, they might have already passed the flu around to friends, family and colleagues." Stocks slump the most in two months on Wall Street NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market had its worst day of the year so far, extending a January slump. Stocks dropped Monday as falling oil prices pushed down energy stocks. The prospect of the Federal Reserve further cutting back on its economic stimulus also weighed on the market. Stocks are falling back this year after exceptional gains pushed the market to record levels in 2013. Investors' confidence that the economy was recovering was jolted Friday by a weak employment report that showed far fewer jobs were added in December than economists had forecast. Unlike last year, investors have so far been reluctant to buy stocks when the market has slumped. Instead they appear to be waiting for more news before committing, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. ''At these high levels, people aren't going to step in'' until they get more evidence of earn- ings growth or better economic news, Cardillo said. ''Until that happens, who's going to step up to the plate?'' The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 23.17 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,819.20, the biggest decline for the index since Nov. 7. After surging almost 30 percent last year, the S&P 500 index is down 1.6 percent in January. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 179.11 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,257.94. The Nasdaq composite dropped 61.36 points, or 1.5 percent, to 4,113.30. All 10 sectors in the S&P 500 fell. Energy stocks were among the biggest The decliners, dropping 1.9 percent after the price of oil slumped close to its lowest in eight months. Exxon Mobil fell $1.97, or 2 percent, to $98.55. Oil fell 92 cents, or 1 percent, to $91.80 a barrel as Libyan production continued to ramp up and the possibility of increased crude exports from Iran raised the prospects of excess supply on global markets. Investors are also worried about more cuts to the Federal Reserve's big economic stimulus program. Dennis Lockhart, the President of the Federal Reserve's Atlanta branch, said Monday that he would support further cuts ''over the course of this year'' if the economy continued to improve. Policymakers said in December that they intended to reduce their purchases of bonds by $10 billion a month to $75 billion a month. The Fed's stimulus was a key driver of the market's rally last year. 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Among other stocks making big moves: — Lululemon Athletica fell $9.90, or 16.6 percent, to $49.70 after the high-end yoga apparel maker said sales have dropped off in January and its fourth-quarter results will be lower than expected. — Scripps Networks slumped $5.70, or 7 percent, to $76.31 after the Wall Street Journal reported that talks about a merger between the cable network operator, which owns HGTV, and Discovery Communications had ended. — Beam, the maker of Jim Beam, Maker's Mark and other liquors, jumped $16.45, or 24.6 percent, to $83.42 after the company announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Japan's Suntory for $14 billion. 36 Years in Tehama County Over 25 years of experience The North State's premier supplier of stoves "Serving our Community for over 19 years" be on company earnings. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are among the big banks that are scheduled report fourthquarter earnings this week. Best Buy and General Electric are among the non-financial companies that will report earnings. ''The market will take its direction from how well, or how poorly, corporate earnings season is unfolding,'' said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. ''I think we're setting up for a positive surprise.'' Analysts expect fourth-quarter earnings to rise by 5.3 percent for S&P 500 companies, according to S&P Capital IQ. That would be a slight drop from the 5.7 percent rate in the previous quarter. Bond prices rose. 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