MCV braces for flu epidemic

Ryan Murphy
News Editor

Patients are packing into the emergency rooms at the VCU Medical Center after the Centers for Disease Control declared the influenza an epidemic.

VCU Medical Center averages between 250 and 300 emergency room visits per day. Right now, they are seeing between 280 and 340, roughly 40 to 50 more patients each day through the ER, according to Dr. Ron Clark, VCU Medical Center’s chief medical officer.

On Jan. 13, patients in one VCU Medical Center emergency room reported wait times topping five hours. Clark said just because wait times will be longer doesn’t mean those in need should forgo the trip if they are feeling ill.

“We are seeing and taking care of anyone who shows up at our doors. We aren’t turning anyone away,” he said.

The Center is running 30 to 40 flu tests and results are coming back positive for 10 to 12 patients every day, Clark said. Between 20 and 25 patients are currently hospitalized with influenza at the Medical Center.

Clark said that flu seasons usually last between eight and 12 weeks, but there’s no way to know for sure what the next few weeks will look like in MCV’s emergency rooms.

“That’s the big unknown — how long is the flu season,” he said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control noted that people seeing healthcare providers for influenza-like symptoms was down after a spike during the last full week of 2012, when 6 percent of those seeking medical help were suffering flu symptoms.

During the week ending Jan. 5, the number fell to 4.3 percent, but the CDC has now upgraded the flu season to epidemic status, after influenza has been linked to 7.3 percent of deaths in the U.S. The threshold for an illness to be considered an epidemic is a 7.2 percent death rate. Virginia was one of 24 states that the CDC considered areas of high “Influenza-Like Illness Activity” during the week that ended Jan. 5.

This flu season is earlier than prior years and is a moderate to severe flu season. Clark says that about every couple of years a flu season hits that affects more people, but some are being caught off-guard because the U.S. hasn’t seen a flu season this harsh in some time.

“I think we’ve all become kind of comfortable with flu season … it is more severe than it has been in the last three or four years,” he said.

Clark maintains that a flu vaccine is still the number one way to prevent catching the flu, even now, in the middle of an outbreak. The second most important preventative measure, he says, is hand hygiene.

“At the grocery store, on the counter … if you’re out and about, you’re going to be exposed,” Clark said. “Washing one’s hands and being mindful of avoiding those who are exhibiting symptoms are good ways to stop the spread of the virus,” he said.