ST. LOUIS — Right now, hospitals in St. Louis are at or near capacity with flu cases.
Barnes-Jewish Healthcare (BJC) in St. Louis has seen twice as many influenza cases every week for the last four weeks.
Rooms are filling and healthcare workers are straining, but one health expert there said there are steps we can take to help.
“We definitely have seen an increase in patient volumes both in our emergency departments, and with those needing to be admitted to the hospital with influenza," BJC Healthcare and Washington University Clinical Chief of Emergency Medicine Rob Poirer said.
He is talking about why his emergency room, among several, are filling up.
“We’ve seen a doubling of the influenza cases every week for the last four weeks, so we’re hoping this will be the last week of the doubling," he said.
Experts have already been warning about the "triple-demic" of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 across the United States this fall.
Poirer said BJC is seeing this already.
“We’re seeing 20-30 patients a day that have the flu, 10-20 patients a day that have COVID, and at least in the adult world, we’re seeing about two to five patients that have RSV," he said.
Although influenza hits every year, this year things looked different, Poirer said.
“Flu hit us early and hard this year. Normally we’ll see it in December, January, February. Now we’re seeing it in October and November," he said.
The U.S. is right in the middle of the winter holiday season.
Poirer said vaccinations and masking when not feeling well should mean we can still enjoy those moments with loved ones.
“Transmission, especially in the household, makes up about one third of the flu cases we see every year," he said.
He urges everyone to get vaccinated for flu and COVID-19 -- small steps that could have prevented either from spreading as quickly.
"There's not just one thing, many things that contributed," he said.
He urges everyone to get vaccinated for flu and COVID-19 to slow the spread of both.
He also said to get plenty of rest, eat well, and use the crook of your sleeve to cover a cough or sneeze.
BJC or the greater St. Louis area are not the only ones seeing the recent influenza surge. According to the CDC, there have been at least six million cases of flu this season.
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