Flu intense in 3 of 4 GC states

Three of the four Gulf Coast states, plus 36 other U.S. states, are currently experiencing outbreaks of the flu. Florida is the only GC state not yet experiencing a heavy volume of influenza cases. The flu season in the GC region - Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi - generally peaks from January to March. Mississippi is seeing the impact of high levels of influenza with more than 100 reported flu outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care settings, according to MSDH State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers. Additionally, the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH) has reports from hospitals across the state that are experiencing increased ICU admissions and Emergency Room visits. “Hospitals are operating at full capacity,” he said. Alabama has already declared its flu outbreaks a crisis. Felicia York and her Alabama family found out how serious it was after her 38-year-old husband became sick in December. The kids already had the flu. They tried to treat husband Adam’s symptoms without a visit. When that didn’t work, they went to Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham thinking he would get a prescription and go home. But they “ended up keeping him because his oxygen level was too low," said Felicia. Within 24 hours of admission, "he went from sitting up … to two tubes down his throat, sedated and on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine to circulate his blood and oxygen instead of using his lungs," she explained. He tested positive for flu strains A and B. It progressed to something worse. Adam’s been in the hospital since early January. He’s stable, but sedated and “basically in a medically induced coma." This flu season really opened Felicia’s eyes as to just how serious the virus can be. (Source: WBRC 01/14/18) According to Dr. Frank Welch of the Louisiana Department of Health, the flu is “unprecedented … (and like a) freight train." He fears up to 700 people may die this year in Louisiana from flu-related symptoms or conditions exacerbated by the flu. Those seeking treatment for symptoms is about 10 percent of the state’s population, nearly doubled the percentage during last year's peak season in February.