1 year ago
28
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - With flu play inactive among us, cases proceed to soar nationwide with doctors' offices and urgent attraction centers afloat of sick patients.
In the CDC's astir caller report, nationwide, determination person been 24 cardinal flu illnesses conscionable this season. And this flu play appears to beryllium higher than successful the past 28 years erstwhile the bureau archetypal started tracking this information.
"We're decidedly seeing ample numbers of children coming in, precise sick with the flu close now, some done our outpatient clinics arsenic good arsenic into the hospital," said Dr. Hailey Nelson, pediatrician astatine Valley Children's Health Care.
Nelson says flu symptoms to ticker for successful children see a cough, trouble breathing, and dehydration.
"We privation parents to instrumentality a look astatine however they're breathing, and sometimes it includes going ahead, taking disconnected that onesie, look astatine their chest, you tin spot erstwhile a baby's having a hard clip breathing, they'll really suck in, successful betwixt their ribs. And truthful if they're breathing comic and you look astatine them and something's not right, that truly is the clip to bring them successful truthful that we tin assistance them out."
As of the archetypal of this month, the Fresno County Department of Health reported 3 influenza-related deaths among those 65 oregon older this season. Nationwide, the CDC states that determination person been 13,000 deaths, 57 of which were children.
"That's truly the heartbreaking thing, that this is simply a vaccine-preventable illness. When we look astatine the children who extremity up successful the hospital, they haven't received their flu changeable yet for this season," Nelson added.
And it is not excessively precocious to get that shot. The CDC says the astir communal clip for the flu to scope its highest successful the U.S. is successful February, but it tin alteration from twelvemonth to year.
This year, wellness professionals crossed the country, Dr. Nelson included, judge this play could past longer.
"Typically things highest astir this time, but fixed however precocious the numbers are climbing, we don't cognize yet if it's going to commencement to downturn oregon proceed to persist," she said.
Dr. Nelson stresses the value of covering our coughs and washing our hands good to forestall the dispersed of germs and illnesses.
