JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While flu cases are starting to drop, it is still in the peak season.
This year, flu season started earlier than usual, and it has been much more aggressive than in previous years. This is in part because of a new and stronger variant.
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Shilpa Amin, who is an emergency medicine physician with HCA Florida Memorial Hospital, is seeing hundreds of patients sick with the flu being treated every day.
“We are seeing a lot of older folks, younger kids having the flu for a couple of days,” Amin said. “They are out maybe four or five days as opposed to just one or two days that we were seeing before.”
Peter Erb tested positive for B-Strain flu earlier this month.
“You do not want to get it,” Erb said. “It will literally put you down, and it makes you feel miserable.”
Erb said it kept him down for about 10 days before he felt like himself again.
“[It was] an awful aching, feeling, headache, runny nose,” he said of his symptoms. “My energy level was pretty low. Nothing tasted good. Your appetite level goes to close to zero.”
There are some really easy things people can do right now to not only protect themselves but also anyone who may be around them.
“Make sure that you have your temperature under control,” Amin said. “If you are spiking a high fever, take Tylenol, Motrin. If you are not able to keep anything down, any food or any water, come to the emergency room right away, where you can get some hydration. Just be mindful. If you are sick or if you are around sick people, [dp] lots of handwashing. Don’t cough near others. If something feels off, come to the emergency room right away.”
Then there’s the question of whether or not to get a flu shot.
“If your doctor has contraindicated you to get a flu shot previously, don’t get it,” Amin said. “But if you are healthy and you want to keep the flu away, go get your flu shot. Get it early.”
When News4JAX asked Amin if that was recommended for a certain demographic, she said “everybody.”
“Get your flu shot,” Erb said. “It does minimize the duration, and the symptoms are not as rough. I could not imagine what it would be like if I did not get the flu shot. It probably would’ve been a whole lot worse.”
Amin believes this peak flu season is going to last another two to three weeks or so before possibly improving by mid-February.
She is reminding people who want to get a flu shot that shots are usually available for free at several places — that includes Publix, CVS, your primary care doctor, and urgent care.
People do not have to schedule appointments to get one.