As Flu Reaches Epidemic Proportions, Protect Yourself and Patients

During the past three months, hospitals in my home state of Illinois have admitted 150 patients to intensive care units with influenza-like illness. Six of those patients died. During the same time last year, Illinois had two hospitalizations and no deaths from the flu. Closer to home in Chicago, six area hospitals were recently on bypass, in part because of the spike in influenza illnesses. And, we're not alone. The CDC said Jan. 11 that 47 states are reporting widespread influenza activity, and 24 states were reporting high influenza activity. In Boston, officials have declared a public health emergency after the number of reported influenza cases in the city jumped 10-fold year over year.
Source: As We See It: Voices From the AAFP - Category: Practice Management Source Type: news