KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With families gathering together for the holidays, something else is being passed around that is not such a welcome gift.
Urgent care centers, doctors’ offices, emergency rooms, pharmacies and about any place that gives medical care has been overwhelmed with cases of the flu because this time of the year is the peak season for the flu.
For example, one man who went to a CVS Minute Clinic around 2 p.m. on Sunday was told they were not taking any more patients even though they did not close until 5:30 p.m.
Dr. Michael Shafe of The Urgency Room said his urgent care centers are seeing a record number of patients.
“We started seeing cases of influenza at the beginning of December, but they are really peaking right now, right in the middle of the holidays when families are together seeing each other, and I think we are going to see another little spike once school starts again,” said Dr. Shafe. “Three out of four patients right now have influenza.”
Influenza is a pesky virus that invades every cell of your body and cannot be treated with antibiotics. At times, the virus seems to come out of nowhere.
“Unfortunately, flu is a rare illness and one of its proclivities is you actually can transmit the flu to other people for two days before you have your first symptom,” said Dr. Shafe.
This year the battle of the bug is against the H1N1 strain of the flu.
“We were very worried at first that the H1N1 was more virulent or would make you sicker than seasonal flu, but that hasn’t been the case,” said Dr. Shafe. “The important thing about this season is that the in-office flu test will only catch about half the cases of H1N1 so your doctors really have to rely on your symptoms to make that diagnosis and that’s what different this year.”
Corey Watkins is displaying classic symptoms of the flu, and blamed his girlfriend who is a medical assistant.
“I hurt all over, running a fever, a 102 fever all day I just didn’t want to move,” said Watkins. “Oh, I could have very easily gotten it from her; I mean she’s around it all day.”
Watkins said his girlfriend got the flu shot and he didn’t, which is what Dr. Shafe said is the key to avoiding the flu, getting vaccinated every year. He also suggested taking precautions like washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze will cut down on transmission.
Watkins said the shot would’ve been worth it and next year he will definitely be getting one.
Dr. Shafe said if you are an otherwise healthy adult you can usually ride out the flu, but he warned that each year, 30,000 people in the United States die from the flu. He said it can be especially dangerous to people younger than two years old, for those older than 65 and those with underlying medical conditions.
