Children’s Health is reporting a spike in flu cases across North Texas. Healthcare systems are reporting an uptick in cases from Dallas to Fort Worth.
The agency reported roughly 100 flu cases in the first week of October, and 136 the following week.
“What’s really stood out to me with these cases of flu that we’re seeing is the severity of symptoms. We’re seeing very high fevers; we’re seeing a lot of fatigue,” said Dr. Zachary Stone, pediatrician at Children’s Health.
Dr. Stone warned that cases will likely continue to climb and advocated for flu shots ahead of holiday gatherings and colder weather.
“That leads to higher disease spread activity. Couple that with the rise in case numbers that we’re seeing these past few weeks, and that’s only going to exacerbate disease spread,” he said.
Stone also disagreed with the common misconception that the flu shot will cause the flu.
“The flu injection is an inactive vaccine, so it cannot give you that flu. So we should not have that concern,” he said.
