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Achoo! Bless you By Jennifer Nitson Ashland Daily Tidings If you escaped catching a cold this winter, go buy a lottery ticket - you're lucky. Though only three confirmed cases of influenza have surfaced in the Rogue Valley during the 2002-03 flu season, many suffered from respiratory viruses, missing work, school and valuable spring vacation time. Southern Oregon University Health Center physician Lorraine McDonald washes her hands this morning before seeing a patient. Ashland Daily Tidings/CHRIS MILLER "The cold and flu season was worse than usual by a good amount," said Ashland family practitioner Dr. Howard Morningstar. "We saw a lot more people with respiratory problems that would not go away. They just went on and on. Nothing helped." Dr. Gordon Enns, physician and medical director of the Southern Oregon University Health Center, said the clinic has seen waves of feverish, coughing students, especially just prior to spring break. "There's been one bug that's been going around that's been influenza-like," Enns said. "There's something out there that's kind of crummy, but I'm not convinced it's influenza. I think there were a lot of things that looked like influenza that weren't." One common feature of the respiratory illness seen at the SOU Health Center was that it would appear to go away for a patient and then symptoms would return several days later. Kristin Julber, nurse manager at the Ashland Community Health Center, is not sure whether patients experienced prolonged illness from the same virus, or they became reinfected with different viruses back to back. "We've seen a lot of viral infections, and they seemed to last longer," Julber said. "There's been a lot of people with a cough that lasts up to three weeks. Maybe the reinfection just makes it seem like it lasts longer, but it's actually a different virus." Doctor's offices and health clinics have seen a drop in respiratory viral infections in the last few weeks. "It kind of looks like it's petering out now," Enns noted. Last year in Jackson County six out of 68 cultures submitted to the Jackson County Health Department for influenza testing came back positive for influenza Type A. This year, only 36 specimens have been submitted to the county's communicable disease trackers. Two specimens tested positive for influenza Type A, and one tested positive for influenza Type B. According to Yvonne Chilcoat , a communicable disease nurse at the county health department, valley residents enjoyed a particularly mild flu season this year. This could be attributed to aggressive flu shot campaigns in the fall. "Certainly the more people that are vaccinated the lower the incidence of disease," Chilcoat said. This is little comfort to those who suffered the chills, aches, fever, coughs and sniffling of upper respiratory viral infections. According to Morningstar, morale was low for those with colds and flu-like symptoms this season. "People were very upset," Morningstar said. "Maybe it was the war. Whatever people were suffering from was more upsetting for them." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -