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| Hospital Flu Concerns |
| Thursday, 01 October 2009 22:46 | |||
 Several local hospitals and doctors offices are seeing a significant increase in flu patients. Area health officials are now joining efforts to prepare for a possible flu outbreak."We're not at the threshold yet where we need to do anything special. We don’t need to put any tent clinics up like some other communities are doing, but we want to know that we are able to do that if the threshold gets hit," Fayette County Health Department spokesman, Kevin Hall said. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department called a special meeting Thursday to discuss ways to combat the overflow of flu patients that some area health facilities are experiencing. "Some of the clinics in town are seeing as many as 50 percent of their patients with the flu or flu like symptoms,” Hall said. U.K. Infection, Prevention and Control Health Director, Dr. Chris Nelson, said flu patients began to trickle in over the summer and now they’re starting to see a steady flow. "Everyone’s seeing an increased number and its certainly challenging people but not to the point that it’s difficult to conduct business or see all of the patients," Dr. Nelson said. Dr. Nelson said the meeting allowed health officials to begin joining efforts. “So we are sharing resources, we are sharing equipment, we are making sure if one hospital is out of anti-viral medication—someone else has it,” Dr. Nelson said. In addition, the health department is making sure everyone has a plan in place for what health officials believe is coming. "A large influx of in-patient and out-patients that are sick or think they have the flu. Also, at the same time, having to deal with staffing shortages of up to thirty or forty percent of healthcare workers," Dr. Nelson said. The health department also wants the public to know that most people with the flu or flu like symptoms do not need to visit the doctor or a hospital to be cured. The majority of flu cases can be cured at home with over-the-counter medicines and remedies. Trackback ( 0 )
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