CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The head of Chicago’s Department of Public Health is sounding the alarm about flu and opioids across the City.
Health Commissioner Allison Arwady gave a status report to the City Council’s Health and Human Services Committee and expressed concerns that Flu cases around the nation were sharply on the rise.
Arwady said she expects the City—and the Country, for that matter--to experience an early and very bad flu season.
"We are seeing already much earlier and more flu hospitalizations than we have in any of the years recently-so really important for people to get flu shots."
One indicator—she said—is that hospitalizations from the flu are substantially higher nationwide.
On the subject of opioids, Arwady said overdoses are at high levels too. Fentanyl is responsible for the bulk of them. Right now, she said there are fewer emergency calls, but she’s not taking much comfort from that, because deaths from overdoses are up.
"We're always glad to see a decrease in E. M. S. responses, but one of the
big problems was that even while E. M. S. responses were going down, deaths were still going."
The grim report was part of her regular briefings for the Council.
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