Dallas

Holiday Travel and Flu Seasons Collide in Contagious Mix

This week starts the holiday travel season, which also happens to coincide with a spike in flu cases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"During the holidays, especially peak travel time," said Dr. Carrie de Moor. "There's going to be a higher likelihood of people in that confined space spreading it."

de Moor works at Code 3, an urgent care clinic inside Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's Terminal D. It's a drop-in clinic for passengers, and a place where airlines can send passengers to get a "fit to fly" check if they are suspected of being too sick to board a plane.

"It's much better to stay home," de Moor said. "Don't be the person who gets on the plane with a 102-degree fever, or who we have to tell you, 'I'm sorry, we can't let you fly because you're going to infect an entire airplane.'"

The flu virus is at our fingertips. It can live on hard surfaces for 24 hours and be spread a full day before a person knows he or she is symptomatic. In addition to getting a flu shot, doctors remind you to wash your hands, cover your coughs and wear a mask if necessary to keep from getting the flu or spreading it.

"Just have the knowledge that the flu is out there right now," de Moor said. "It's not going to be here in a month. It's already here."

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