Dr. Contacessa: ‘Super Flu’ Is Media Hype

Public anxiety over reports of a so-called “super flu” is misplaced, according to Florida internist Dr. Frank Contacessa, who said the label has no grounding in medicine and should not alarm the public.

Speaking Wednesday to Newsmax, Contacessa urged calm and stressed that, despite a rise in cases, this year’s influenza is not proving more dangerous than what doctors see most winters. “The symptoms are not more severe, it’s not more life-threatening,” Contacessa said. “People should not be nervous. It’s a typical flu season so far.”

Contacessa rejected the terminology fueling concern. “This really is a sensationalized term,” he said during an appearance on The Record With Greta Van Susteren. “This is not a medical term.” He continued, “The super flu does not exist in medicine. This is being used to describe the rapidity of onset of symptoms with this particular strain and the speed that it’s spread across the country.”

According to the physician, the current strain’s defining feature is how quickly symptoms can escalate, not their severity. “People typically go from, ‘I feel fine’ to ‘I think I’m coming down with something’ to ‘I can’t move out of bed within a matter of a few hours,’” Contacessa said. Common signs include a high temperature, sore throat, fever, aches, and chills.

While recommending basic precautions, Contacessa emphasized simple prevention over panic. “Keep your hands clean and keep yourself healthy,” he said.

He also raised doubts about the effectiveness of this year’s flu vaccine, describing forecasting challenges that affect its performance. “It’s a very difficult thing to predict, and they’re not very good at it,” Contacessa said. “On a good year, it’s maybe 30 or 40% effective and in a bad year, it’s single digit effective. It looks like this is going to be a bad year, because this particular strain is different from what they put into the formulation.”

Given that outlook, Contacessa said he is not broadly encouraging vaccination among his patients and does not get the shot himself. “Maybe you could make a case for an older person or somebody who has [been] immunocompromised, but for a younger, healthier person, I really don’t push it,” he said.

{Matzav.com}