Flu season started gradually but now is considered widespread in Texas.
Last week Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth tested more than 400 children for flu. One-hundred of them, nearly a quarter of those tested, tested positive. That's a trend seen at other clinics in North Texas.
"All of a sudden everyone came in with the flu," said Karina Hinojosa, a nurse practitioner at PediPlace in Lewisville. "It was a slow season until the last two weeks-and-a-half. We've seen many cases."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks flu cases across the country. Early this month, Texas flu cases were classified as "regional," but now Texas is listed as having "widespread" flu.
"I have a little one in room 10," Hinojosa said, checking charts between patients. "He's 3-months old and he's here for a cough and fever."
PediPlace has been testing anyone with flu-like symptoms.
"Last week the whole counter was filled up (with tests)," said one member of the medical staff doing a swab test Tuesday. "Everyone was getting tested."
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Typically by December and January, there are many reported cases of flu. This year's slow start gives people more time to get the vaccine.
"It's like any other vaccine. It'll be a little painful for a few minutes, then it goes away," Hinojosa said she tells her patients. "They tell us, 'I wish I would have gotten the vaccine and avoided all those body aches and fevers.'"
