The Centers for Disease Control is urging doctors to prescribe antiviral medications to high-risk patients suspected of having the flu, even without a positive test. When given within 48 hours of symptoms appearing, antivirals like Tamiflu or Relenza can ease symptoms, shorten illness, and prevent serious complications.

Clinicians are not prescribing antiviral medications as often as in previous years, even though the 2013 flu season is causing more hospitalizations and deaths according to government figures. Complications from this year’s predominant flu strain are especially high among the elderly, causing half of hospitalizations and 90% of deaths so far.

With a sharp increase in both hospitalizations and deaths in the 2^nd week of January, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a physician advisory urging use of antivirals for more people–especially those at high risk–as soon as flu symptoms appear.

“When given promptly, they work,” CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, told a Jan. 18^th press briefing. “They can reduce symptoms, shorten the duration of illness, and prevent serious complications including hospitalization and death.”

Frieden also advised clinicians not to wait for test results or a positive ‘rapid flu test’ when probably flu appears in people at high risk for complications: anyone over age 65 or under age 2, or having any ongoing serious illness (including cancer survivors no longer in treatment).

Only halfway through the flu season

The number of influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths will rise in the coming weeks even as the  national average of new cases begins to slow, Frieden warned, partly because there is a lag time between when flu hits and when complications like pneumonia appear.

And even though flu rates are leveling out in much of the east and south, the outbreak is just beginning in California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Nevada. “Folks out West, you still have most of the flu season yet to come,” Frieden said.

What this means for you:

• Experts are still strongly recommending that anyone over 2 years old should get a flu shot for protection—of you and others—over the next several months.
• Even if you got vaccinated, you can still get a strain of influenza.
• If you begin to have flu symptoms and are “high-risk” or have contact with high-risk people, you should get antiviral medication with 48 hours. (High risk includes cancer survivors, even if you’re no longer in treatment. Even if it’s later than 2 days, you might still benefit, so call your doctor.)
• Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches.
• You are contagious to anyone within 6 feet until you have been without a fever for 24 hours.  Stay home.

Sources:

• “CDC Urges Tamiflu RX to Curb Flu Death Rate,” Jan. 18 2013 Medscape
• Jan. 15 2013 CDC Health Advisory: Summary of CDC Recommendations for Influenza Antiviral Medications

Provided by Kaiser Health News

Experts were surprised this week when the latest government survey showed that consumers actually paid a slightly smaller share of the nation’s total health bill in 2011, even though more people now pay higher deductibles.

Total U.S. spending on health care grew 3.9% in 2011 (including all medical goods and services, public health, cost of health insurance, investments, and government costs). That equals 17.9% of Gross Domestic Product (the same as 2009 and 2010) or about $8,680 per person in the nation.

Consumers paid just over one-quarter (28%) of total costs. Meanwhile, federal government health spending has risen more than three times as fast as consumer health spending since 2007, largely due to increased Medicare and Medicaid services for seniors and the disabled.

But many households hit hard by high deductibles

Even though the federal government is paying more of the nation’s total bill, individuals and families are paying a higher percentage of their personal income on health care. Household medical expenses are rising faster than the families’ income, according to government statistician Micah Hartman.

In 2012, one worker in three had medical insurance with a deductible of $1000 or more, meaning they must pay $1000 “out of pocket” before most expenses are covered. (In 2006, only one in 10 workers had a high-deductible plan.)

At the moment, the cost of higher deductibles is being partly offset by lower average prescription costs, as low-cost generics become more available for common medicines.

But more and more employers—as well as insurers under the new “health exchange” insurance marketplaces coordinated by the Affordable Care Act—will offer only high-deductible plans with pretax health savings accounts in the near future, according to employer and insurer surveys.

Fight Colorectal Cancer Answer Line and Upcoming Webinar Both Offer Advice

Public health officials worry that high deductibles may keep patients from getting needed screening or early treatment.

“One of the most common calls to our Answer Line right now is from people due for a colonoscopy, or unable to pay treatment copays, because they can’t afford their high deductible,” says Tavia Gilchrist, one of the friendly voices of Fight Colorectal Cancer’s Answer Line.

People may not have enough cash to pay a plan’s high deductible; or they’ve been laid off and lost all insurance; or they’re in a ‘grandfathered’ plan that isn’t yet required to offer free screenings. Gilchrist helps people define exactly what issue they’re facing, whether it’s insurance or Medicare rules, confusion about what a doctor is ordering, or a lack of local screening programs. “Every state – even areas within a state – is different,” she notes. Her job is to get callers started in the right direction to find answers to their specific question.

Webinar features expert on handling cancer finances

Speaking of questions, you can listen to plenty of answers in the live webinar “Addressing the Financial Burden of Cancer” on Wednesday, Jan. 16 from 8 to 9:30 pm EST. It features Elaine Martinez, a case manager with the Colorectal CareLine at the Patient Advocate Foundation.

Elaine serves as a liaison between colorectal cancer patients and their insurers, employers and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job, and/or debt problems. She helps investigate reimbursement levels for prescribed treatments, researches available clinical trials, and helps people enroll in resource programs for both uninsured and underinsured patients.

If you can’t listen in on Wednesday, the webinar will be archived for later listening, too.

Either way, you can’t afford to miss it.

Sources:

• “Who Knew? Patients’ Share of Health Spending Is Shrinking,” Jan. 14 Kaiser Health News;
• “Employer Health Benefits: 2012 Summary of Findings,” Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Education Trust;
• 2011 National Health Expenditures report, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services;

• Fight Colorectal Answer Line: 1-877-427-2111

• Webinar: “Addressing the Financial Burden of Cancer”

Michelle and Brett Gallaway

“A cook-off saved my life.”

That’s what Brett Gallaway wrote on his Facebook page on October 3, 2012, after reality sank in. He’d just heard from his doctor that a precancerous polyp had been found during his screening colonoscopy.  A polyp that, if left in place, could have developed into full-blown colorectal cancer.

“I didn’t even know I had it,” Brett said.  “I didn’t have any symptoms.”

Thanks to a raffle he won at a barbecue cook-off, he was able to receive a free colonoscopy and find the cancer early.

Brett’s Facebook page filled with “Likes” and comments. A lot of them were testimonials from friends who had brushes with cancer or had also discovered precancerous polyps just in the nick of time.  A lot of them seemed to be like Brett, in their forties or close to 50, with kids, spouses and busy lives. Native Texans, they shared a love of grilling and barbecue.  

Some of them had been at the cook-off that day. They knew the organizer, Suzan Mayberry, and flocked to the 2^nd Annual Steve Mayberry Annual Cookoff, held in September in honor of her husband who died of colorectal cancer in 2010. Brett was part of the USA Cookteam, a group of buddies who grill for fun and enter competitions across the country. He volunteered to help with the cook-off and grilled all the food available to sell during the event.

Brett wasn’t thrilled when he found out his wife purchased 12 raffle tickets, where the winning prize was a free colonoscopy. “People have been telling me to get a colonoscopy and I didn’t take it seriously at that point,” he said. His family also didn’t have health insurance, so the screening wasn’t his most pressing concern. But when he won the raffle, he took it as a sign. “I figured if I won this, there’s a reason.”

A week and a half later, Brett went in for the screening at the Baylor Surgical Center of Lewisville. Three days afterward, he got the news. “I was actually at work in my office and I let my wife know and then called my dad and then called my wife to tell her again,” Brett said. “I realized had I not gotten a screening done when I did, I wouldn’t have been able to [afford] one.”

Dr. James Cox, the gastroenterologist who saw Brett, said his case was “one of the most satisfying things I have done professionally.” Dr. Cox teamed up with United Surgical Partners to provide the pro bono screening.  “Without insurance, he probably would not have come in until he had symptoms and that could have been at an incurable stage,” Dr. Cox said.

That’s why he encourages patients to seek medical advice if they have any symptoms, including abdominal pain, weight loss or bleeding.  He often meets patients who dismiss their symptoms and wait until they get worse. “People say I’m bleeding from my hemorrhoids and I say ‘Really, you’ve looked inside and confirmed that?’ When we get in and look, we find a big polyp sitting there.”

For Suzan Mayberry, Brett’s story is the icing on the cake. Twenty-three teams of grillers participated in the cook-off this year and every team donated their winnings to Fight Colorectal Cancer. The event raised $15,000.

“It’s the only thing I can do to stick it back to cancer,” Suzan said. She hopes to use the annual event to raise awareness about colorectal cancer, screenings and Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic mutation that doctors suspect was the cause of her husband’s colorectal cancer. Lynch syndrome runs in families and increases their chances of developing colorectal cancer and other Lynch-related cancers.

Since the polyp was removed, Brett is a changed man. “When I saw the risk factors [for colorectal cancer] included eating a lot of red meat, I said ‘whoa that’s me.’” In 2011, he had been the champion in the steak category during the Mayberry cook-off. His USA Cookteam were the 2011 world champions in the World Ribeye Steak Cook-off in Magnolia, Arkansas. Now, he cooks for competition and eats a lot less.

“I feel like I’ve won the lottery,” he reflects. “There was someone else’s hand in it. I was given a second lease on life. I’ve just got to figure out how to use my time.”

Fight Colorectal Cancer thanks Bayer Healthcare for their support of the cook-off, as well as Suzan Mayberry and her fantastic planning committee for their leadership and boundless enthusiasm.

If you  have questions about the symptoms or risk factors of colorectal cancer, please call the Fight Colorectal Cancer Answer Line at 1-877-427-2111.

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

The flu season has arrived early in the U.S., and includes the H3N2 influenza strains which previously have been associated with more serious flu seasons. Especially during the holidays when people gather and travel, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants you to know some important facts, if you have cancer now or if you have had cancer in the past:

• Every person aged 6 months or older should get a flu shot;
• Only 37% of age-eligible Americans had gotten their flu shots as of the latest survey in mid-November;
• Although we don’t know if people with or having survived cancer get infected with influenza viruses more often, people who have cancer now or who are disease-free but have had cancer previously are at higher risk for complications if they get the flu;
• The CDC revised its pneumonia vaccine recommendations in Oct. 2012: Now, adults with specific immunocompromising conditions (included generalized malignancy) should get two different pneumonia vaccinations. Read the rest of this entry »

For the first time, a two-time colorectal cancer survivor will direct and shape daily broadcast news coverage from the U.S. on a global scale. It was announced last week that Jeff Zucker, age 47, will become the president of CNN Worldwide, after serving as executive producer of Katie Couric’s new talk show, Katie, and after heading up NBC Universal.

Beyond Zucker’s and Couric’s latest teaming, there’s a lesser known cultural history of how Zucker and Couric, former co-host of NBC’s Today show, worked as colleagues starting in the late 1990s to bring colorectal cancer coverage out of health story shadows and into mainstream media reports.  

Most TV viewers are not aware that Zucker was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 31 (then again at 34), and that he scheduled chemo sessions on Fridays to minimize work absences. The world did hear about the surprising death in 1998 of Jay Monahan, Couric’s husband and an NBC News legal analyst: he died at age 42 from colon cancer. Thus began a remarkable public campaign. Read the rest of this entry »