WASHINGTON — The extremely bad flu season is widespread across the entire continental United States, prompting facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes to take precautions when it comes to letting people through the door.
All six hospitals in Montgomery County, Maryland, have barred visitors who have symptoms of the flu.
“Visitors who exhibit flu-like symptoms, such as fever or sore throat, will not be allowed to visit the hospital,” said Mary Anderson, with the county’s health department.
Also barred from visiting are children under the age of 12.
If a young child or someone with symptoms must be in the hospital, they will be asked to put on a mask.
“This is to protect the health of patients, staff and visitors,” Anderson said. “We are definitely seeing an uptick in the number of illnesses.”
That is the story nationwide. This flu season is growing more intense, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This is a season that has a lot more steam than we thought,” said Dr. Dan Jernigan of the CDC.
One measure of the season’s severity is how many doctor or hospital visits are related to flu symptoms. Thirty-two states are reporting high patient traffic, up from 26 states earlier in the month.
Hawaii is the only state that doesn’t have reports of widespread illnesses.
In Oklahoma and Texas, some school districts canceled classes because so many students and teachers were sick. In Mississippi, flu outbreaks hit more than 100 nursing homes and other long-term care places, resulting in some restricting visitors.
This year’s flu season got off to an early start, and it’s been driven by a nasty strain that tends to put more people in the hospital and cause more deaths than other common flu bugs.
Usually, flu seasons start to wane after so much activity, but “it’s difficult to predict,” Jernigan said.
Young children and the elderly are at greatest risk from flu and its complications. In a bad season, as many as 56,000 deaths are connected to the flu.
In the U.S., annual flu shots are recommended for everyone over the age of 6 months.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
