ROANOKE, Va. – Doctors at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital say this year marks the highest number of flu cases we’ve seen in years.
Doctor Thomas Kerkering, the chief of infectious disease, says the flu season has not been as severe as far as the number of people being admitted and having to seek long-term care at the hospital, but it is severe in the total number of patients.
He says already more than 3,000 to 4,000 flu patients have been treated, ranging in age from just four weeks old to one patient that was 108 years old. We’re expecting to see even more patients between now and the end of flu season, which isn’t expected to come for several more weeks or even months.
However, doctors say there is some good news on the horizon, as it looks like we may now be through the worst of this flu season.
“It does appear as if it might be peaking, last week was the first week that we had fewer cases in the previous week,” says Kerkering. “ Not by many, but that’s the first week since the beginning of December that the number of cases has been less than the previous week.“
With the flu now widespread in every state but Hawaii, doctors nationwide are expected to test tens of thousands of patients for the flu in the coming weeks. We’re also learning more about those rapid flu tests, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says are only about 50 to 70 percent accurate. That means there is the potential for a false negative on those tests.
Kerkering says when that happens, doctors often perform a more comprehensive test, which takes longer to complete but is also more accurate. That’s what helps them determine how to treat symptoms and whether you may actually be sick with something besides the flu.
“We are seeing some cases of what’s known as human metapneumovirus virus,” he says. “ It looks exactly like the flu and that would be one of the reasons for a negative flu test. I do the more sensitive test, that’s where it’s picked up. But by and large it’s been a busy but otherwise normal influenza season.”
That doesn’t mean that you won’t catch the flu between now and the end of flu season, so even if you haven’t gotten vaccinated there is still time. Nearly every doctor's office and pharmacy in our area is still giving flu shots. Once you’re vaccinated it takes about two weeks to fully kick in.