Triangle hospitals report alarming increase of flu in kids
State health officials reported Wednesday the first pediatric flu death in the state.
Doctors say not only are they seeing an alarming increase, but the flu cases they’re seeing in children are severe and the spike is hitting much earlier than usual.
In Raleigh at Dr. R E. Frerichs’ office at 7205 Stonehenge Drive, of all the children medical personnel see in a day, at least half are testing positive for the flu.
Hospitals across the Triangle are also reporting an alarming increase
“It’s almost like every other child is coming in with flu,” said medical assistant Dr. Patrice Carr.
Doctors are seeing increases in cases involving flu, COVID and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Carr says her practices typically sees 15 children per day. She explained the symptoms of children with the flu.
“[It’s] very serious,” Carr said. “Temperatures are very high.
“I had one child [whose] temperature was 103. That’s alarming that’s enough to take you to the emergency room.”
The increase is also causing a strain on hospitals that are already dealing with an employee shortage.
During the last week of October, UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill had 210 confirmed flu cases, more than double the week before. RSV cases also increased to 244 with two-thirds of being kids.
At Duke Health, they had 155 flu cases compared to 31 from the previous week.
WakeMed had 656 flu cases with 17 hospitalizations.
It’s an increase we’re seeing much sooner than years before
“Normally, we don’t see anything until December, January, February and RSV and flu can be very severe for kids, which is why we’re seeing now such a squeeze on pediatric beds across the state,” Dr. Zach Moore said with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Many doctors have been saying it for months: They believe this will be a bad flu season.
Doctors highly recommend anyone 6 months or older get a flu and COVID vaccine.
