Mar 11, 2008 5:58 pm US/Central
Rough Flu Season Hitting Area Hospitals Hard
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The flu is slamming us hard this year. Bad bugs are causing it and this year's vaccine turned out to be a bad match for them. So many people who got shots still got sick. That and other factors are stressing some hospitals to a near breaking point.
CBS 2 Medical Editor Mary Ann Childers reports the Centers for Disease Control says 47 states, including Illinois, are reporting widespread flu activity. And it could be worse than we even suspect because flu is not an officially reportable disease. Cases are tracked via absences in schools, outbreaks in facilities such as nursing homes and spot-checks with hospitals and clinics. But it's clearly one of the worst flu seasons in years.
"The last two years were pretty light," said Dino Rumoro, M.D., of Rush University Medical Center. "About three years ago we had a real tough flu season, so it's more comparable to three years ago."
Some go to hospital emergency rooms because they don't have insurance and can't afford a doctor. Others have underlying medical conditions, like heart disease, lung problems or conditions that influenza complicates.
For hospitals already approaching overload, "we are at a flashpoint," Rumoro said. "Every year things get a little worse. Every winter season we have flu patients that stress our system to the maximum."
Edward Hospital in Naperville had to turn ambulances away for seven hours March 5 because 314 patients had beds filled to capacity.
In the past three weeks, Advocate Good Samaritan in Downers Grove went on by-pass, diverting patients to other hospitals, five times -- once, for a reported 11 hours.
Rush University Medical Center has only gone on by-pass once in the past seven years, but it's seeing a huge number of flu cases and complications; as many as 200 flu patients came in a day for three days last month.
"I think it hit us a bit later than expected but certainly now I'm not sure we've seen the peak yet but the numbers have gone up considerably," Rumoro said.
And because the season can peak in March and April it might not ease up anytime soon.
It's already too late for a flue shot, so the best advice to avoid the flu is to remember it's contagious and airborne. So always remember to wash your hands.
And if you get sick, stay home.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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