DALLAS (KRLD) - MedStar, the ambulance provider in Fort Worth, says its paramedics treated an average of 7.4 people for symptoms of the flu each day in December. The total in December was a 59% increase from November.
MedStar says its overall call number for this flu season has jumped 30.4% from last year.
"This flu season does appear to be a bit worse than our flu season last year," says MedStar's Matt Zavadsky.
The Centers for Disease Control says flu is widespread in Texas and at the CDC's highest level. CDC says 37 states were reporting high levels of flu in the week ending December 28, 2019, up from 28 states the week before.
In Texas, eight children have died this flu season.
"It's never too late to consider, if you haven't done it yet, get a flu vaccine," Zavadsky says. "The CDC, Dallas County, Tarrant County Public Health have all indicated the flu vaccine can be a good weapon against contracting the flu."
Zavadsky says the vaccine can prove a useful tool as children head back to school and parents head back to work after the holidays. He says the increase will likely continue into January and February.
"It is typical, during the holiday break, for families to get together but not be exposed to the rest of the community," Zavadsky says. "Now that folks for a week or two have potentially incubated a bit of the flu virus, as we all go back into the mainstream public, we're going to see that incubation period and flu potentially begin to spread through schools, through work or other locations."
MedStar has a list of flu prevention recommendations from the CDC and Tarrant County Public Health. Get more info here.
MedStar will also work with groups to set up mobile vaccination clinics. Get more info here.
