This season?s flu is not as severe as the average bout of influenza, but lasts much longer, doctors say, and still has parents around the region reaching for the medicine cabinet.
“It?s a little bit different than usual, in that it?s a milder illness, but longer lasting,” said Dr. Tyler Cymet, head of family medicine at Baltimore?s Sinai Hospital. “People are describing symptoms like the common cold, but the symptoms are staying around for two to three weeks.”
In an average year in the United States, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and about 36,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some people, such as older people, young children, and people with health conditions, are at high risk for serious complications.
Symptoms usually include high fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and muscle aches, according to the CDC. Stomach symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea also can occur but are more common in children than adults.
While hospitals from Anne Arundel to Columbia have reported no spike in flu cases, Cymet said he has seen a lot more patients complaining of the low-grade flu symptoms that seem to be common this month. “I think that?s probably because it?s lasting longer. With most colds people don?t get in to see the doctor because it?s gone by the time they have an appointment.”
With the flu season expected to last into late March, it?s not too late to get vaccinated, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Web site. For information on local clinics, visit cha.state.md.us.
