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Louisiana ranks amongst the highest in the U.S for flu cases
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BATON ROUGE - According to the CDC, five states in the US have the highest numbers of flu cases, including New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Colorado, and Louisiana.
"Since the last week of October, every week it seems like it's doubling, tripling, and this is no different. So we are having a large number of cases, people showing up, so with just coughs and sneezes, but some are really sick, so we're having to admit some patients with the flu now," Medical Director of Emergency Services with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Dr. Mark Laperouse, said.
Laperouse says they are currently testing between 45 and 50 patients a day for the flu, with about 30% of those tests coming back positive.
"So, it's a decent number, and just because you test negative, it doesn't mean you don't have the flu; it's not a perfect test," Laperouse said.
Dr. Ben Levron, Family Medicine Physician with Baton Rouge General, says his office is seeing an uptick in general respiratory viruses.
"So my office is kind of small, but I'm seeing about 3 or four patients a day that are coming in to get tested for flu-like symptoms," Levron said.
Levron says that often patients have been exposed through social gatherings, holiday parties, and festivities.
"You know no one wants to miss out on holidays and stuff like that with their families, but it's really important that if you are feeling under the weather, you hold off on seeing them this time. Maybe raincheck on it, that sort of thing," Levron said.
Laperouse says if there ever is a concern, patients should go to the emergency room.
"But if they're just having mild symptoms, I think they can probably go to an urgent care or their primary care, or you know, pass the time at home, but the most important thing is to not spread it," Laperouse said.
Doctors urge people to practice good hand hygiene to help contain the spread.
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