THE GAZETTE
Page A-10
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 r
MedStar Montgomery is reporting a spike in flu cases n
Even those vaccinated might not evade this year’s strain BY
TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
If you haven’t gotten a flu shot, it’s not too late to help protect yourself from a particularly harsh strain of the flu. Tuesday morning, Ricardo Eugenio, 42, of Aspen Hill, arrived in the emergency department at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney. The otherwise healthy man was suffering from body aches and fever. He said multiple members of his household recently had the flu. Eugenio said he started feeling sick on Sunday. By Tuesday, he was pretty miserable. Dr. Michael Kerr, the medical director of the Department of Emergency Department Services at MedStar Montgomery, was confident his patient had the flu, even before the the nasal swab tested positive.
Kerr said the hospital is just starting to feel the effects of flu season. “The flu has started to hit the country, and has been most prevalent in the western and southwestern states,” he said. “It is progressing across the country and is now hitting the East Coast.” Kerr said over the past two to three weeks, many people have arrived in the emergency department with flu symptoms and tested positive for Influenza A and B, the most common types. “It’s a particularly bad strain,” he said. “A lot of people are getting sick even though they have been vaccinated, but those who have been vaccinated tend to have less severity. I still highly recommend getting a flu shot.” At MedStar Montgomery, doctors are seeing 10 to 20 patients a day with flu-like symptoms. “We’ve seen worse in previous years, but the season is just starting,” Kerr said. Flu symptoms include body
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Dr. Michael Kerr, medical director of the Department of Emergency Department Services at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, prepares to test patient Ricardo Eugenio, 42, of Aspen Hill, for the flu. aches, fever, fatigue, and lack of appetite. Other symptoms,
such as sinus congestion and sore throat, are not associated
with flu, and are usually due to a common cold or upper respira-
tory infection. The flu is caused by a virus, so antibiotics don’t work. Kerr said usually healthy people can be treated for the flu by resting, drinking lots of fluids, and taking Motrin or Tylenol. Most can be treated by their physicians, but he recommends that people who are very young or very old, have other health problems, are unable to keep fluids down, are unable to control fever, or are having trouble breathing seek treatment at the hospital. Some antiviral medications can be given, but Kerr said that to be effective, they need to be started almost immediately after the onset of symptoms. Usually, by the time he sees the patients, it is too late. To prevent flu, Kerr recommends getting a flu shot, washing hands and hoping for the best. “And if you do get the flu, don’t go to work,” he said. thogan@gazette.net
Barve says education, jobs continue to be his priorities in District 17 n Majority leader seeking re-election in Gaithersburg, Rockville area BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
135542G
Del. Kumar P. Barve is counting on his track record in the state House of Delegates over the past 22 years as the foundation for a successful reelection campaign. “If you looked at my campaign literature from four years ago, it would probably be pretty similar,” Barve (D-Dist. 17) of Gaithersburg said. Barve has been a delegate since 1991 and Democratic majority leader since 2003. He represents District 17, which includes Rockville and Gaithersburg. Barve said that if elected to another term, he plans to continue working on the same priorities, such as education and high-technology job creation, always in the context of balancing the budget on time. “Montgomery County is well situated to benefit from the economy as it recovers, and the education system in the state of Maryland is still the best in the nation,” Barve said, “and we’ve done it all while maintaining a triple-A bond rating at the state level.” Barve said the major issues in the district have always been and probably will continue to be education and job creation. Since the recession ended, Barve said, the state has increased the amount of investment in education, especially in school construction, and will likely continue to do so as the economy recovers further. This year, Barve began serving on a new business climate work group in the House. The group’s mission is to study ways to streamline business regulations, encourage innovation and develop public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure, according to a description of the group on the state archives’ website. “We are going to be working very closely with Montgomery County and some major employers in Gaithersburg and major academic institutions of higher learning to really kickstart our effort in developing even further the biotechnol-
KUMAR P. BARVE
Kumar P. Barve is running for reelection as delegate in District 17.
ogy (industry) in Montgomery County, Maryland,” Barve said. “That’s an ongoing effort that I’m going to continue to be very involved in.” Barve, 55, was born in upstate New York and grew up in Silver Spring. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Georgetown University. He is the chief financial officer for Rockville-based Environmental Management Services Inc. His wife, Maureen Quinn, is a Maryland workers’ compensation commissioner. Barve filed to run for re-election in December, according to the state board of elections website. Del. James W. Gilchrist of Rockville, another Democratic incumbent in District 17, said he plans to run for re-election. Like the seven other legislative districts in Montgomery, District 17 elects three delegates. In the 2014 election, the district will have at least one open seat because Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) has announced he plans to seek a state Senate seat. As of Tuesday, Andrew Platt, Laurie-Anne Sayles and George Zamora, all of Gaithersburg, have filed to run for a District 17 seat. Former Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffmann has announced her plans to run, too. The primary will be June 24, 2014. The general election will be Nov. 4, 2014. ewaibel@gazette.net
“We are going to be working very closely with Montgomery County and some major employers in Gaithersburg and major academic institutions of higher learning to really kick-start our effort in developing even further the biotechnology (industry) in Montgomery County, Maryland” Del. Kumar P. Barve, District 17 delegate