The number of flu cases is on the rise across the country including Palm Beach County.
As of right now, our area is only seeing what they call “sporadic” levels, which is actually two levels below "widespread."
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However, given the severity of the flu in other places across the state and our country, the health department said things will get worse in our area.
Thursday afternoon, we found Antonina Fenner and her family on the way to Delray Medical
Center’s Free Standing Emergency Room.
“She’s sick. Coughing. I don’t like the way she sounds,” said Fenner. She’s worried her daughter may have the flu. “You gotta watch your hands. If you don’t wash your hands, you're going to get sick."
“For us it tends to be an illness that’s much more severe early on,” said Dr. Deven Kumar, one of Delray Medical’s ER doctors.
He says so far there hasn’t been anything abnormal this flu season. However, he has seen a recent spike.
“Definitely, around the holidays we’ve seen a significant increase,” said Kumar.
Other medical centers around the area are also reporting the recent spike, an increase in “influenza like illnesses.”
“What we’re seeing this year is a real increase kind of early,” said Tim O’Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department.
He says so far the number of cases isn’t unusual, but we are seeing an quick increase.
O’Connor says right now Palm Beach County is seeing “sporadic" flu levels. It’s still not as bad as it got last year which was to the "moderate” level.
“People will be coming down for the season,” said O’Connor. Which is why he says given the widespread levels we’re seeing in other states, they aren’t ruling out the possibility of that happening here.
“It's going to get worse. There’s no potentially. It will get worse than what we’re seeing right now. How bad or how severe, we don’t know.”
Doctors say there is still time to get the flu shot. While it hasn’t been as effective this year, it still provides protection.
