Over 60,000 people in the United States alone are experienced the flu virus.The flu has already claimed 42 lives in California alone and the death toll is expected to double.
Hospitals are ramping up their staff members to help patients who are experiencing flu like symptoms but there just isn’t enough staff. El Camino Hospital in Mountain View is struggling to keep up. Some hospitals across the nation are turning away patients due to flu medication shortages.
Hospitals and urgent care facilities are recommending that staff members wear masks and use Influenza sanitizers on their hands and disinfect their work areas on a regular basis.
This year, more than 80 percent of flu cases involve H3N2 strain. And the CDC’s Jernigan reported that there were 22.7 hospitalizations related to flu per 100,000 population during the week of December 31, 2017, to January 6, 2018. That’s a doubling from 13.7 the week before. “We’re seeing a rapid rise in the number of people being hospitalized,” Jernigan said. vox.com
Hospitals and urgent care facilities are recommending that staff members wear masks and use Influenza sanitizers on their hands and disinfect their work areas on a regular basis.
Multiple States Declared The Flu a Public Health Emergency.
Even with a proper vaccination the H3N2 strain is extremely difficult to prevent.The amount of flu cases and related deaths are predicted to doubled before the season ends in May 2018.
Since the the flu virus is always mutating it is becoming much more difficult to treat.
The vaccine is designed to protect people against three or four strains of the A and B viruses that researchers believe will be most common in a given year. So every year, public health agencies essentially makes educated guess on what strains and mutations will make the rounds. As you can imagine, this is no easy task — and in reviews of the research on flu vaccine effectiveness, researchers have found that years when H3N2 is circulating tend to be years when the vaccine is less effective. vox.com
Many times people may be experiencing flu like symptoms and not even know it until these symptoms become so terrible that it calls for a trip to see the doctor. Some of these symptoms we disregard because we just think it will go away and this is how we feel sometimes. Here’s what to look for if you think you may have the flu.
6 Common Symptoms Of The Flu We Tend To Disregard
- Fatigue
- Aching Body Followed By Chills
- Persistent Coughing
- Sore Throat
- Fever
- Diarrhea, Nausea, Stomach Pain, or Vomiting
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms or just not sure call your doctor first before going to the urgent care or hospital to see what they recommend. As always if you feel your symptoms are life threatening, call 911 or go straight to the hospital for treatment.
Please comment below if you have any other suggestions or opinions regarding the flu epidemic that is spreading across the nation.