Dallas

Potential for Severe Flu Season Ahead

Health experts monitoring a spike in flu cases say Type-A is hitting hard this season, and that could lead to many more North Texans being hospitalized or even dying from the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Influenza A H3N2 is the most common virus across the U.S. this year, but half of the H3N2 cases are a strain of the virus not included in the current flu vaccine.

“So the CDC is just saying there has been a change in the flu strain, so if before maybe the flu vaccine was effective against 75-percent of the flu we’re seeing, maybe it’s effective against 50 or 60 percent now,” said Dr. Matt Bush, director of emergency services for Medical City in Dallas.

Bush said that doesn’t mean you can skip getting a flu shot this year.

“If there is one important message from today, it’s if you haven’t been vaccinated it’s not too late to go out and get vaccinated,” Bush said.

Still, doctors at Medical City are seeing a significant increase in the number of flu cases so far this year.

“It’s been a busy November and early December,” Bush said. “So far, in fact, it actually hit on Black Friday just like the retailers, we’ve seen about a 30-percent increase in the volume of our ER patients and about a 90-percent increase in our flu patients relative to this time last year.”

On Thursday, the CDC said early data suggests this year’s flu season could potentially be severe.

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