Reports of influenza are on the rise across several parts of Nebraska. Deb Scholten, director of the Northeast Nebraska Public Health Department in Wayne, says state health officials have issued a flu alert. Scholten says doctors’ offices are “pretty full and pretty busy” as they’re seeing a lot of cases of influenza-A cases, much more than influenza-B cases.
Scholten says if you go to the doctor with the flu, you may have a few more tests run on you. Doctors want to see what type of flu you have so they’ll be able to better track the danger and severity of the illnesses.
She says one medicine used to treat flu symptoms is not having its normal effect this year. She says Tamiflu isn’t working on some of the viruses that are being identified around the state this year so doctors are looking to find the best courses of treatment. She says despite the upswing in reported flu cases, it’s still not too late to get a flu shot.
Thanks to Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton