photo by: Contributed

LMH Health's main campus at 325 Maine St.

As flu cases have seen increases across the country this season, LMH Health officials say they’ve also seen an uptick in cases during what has been a more severe season than in recent years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, according to an AP News report, with an estimated 7,400 deaths due to the flu this season.

Christopher Penn, an infectious disease physician with LMH Health, told the Journal-World that while it is not uncommon for hospitals to see more patients during this time of year — after the holidays and travel where it can be harder to avoid sick people — the hospital system has certainly seen an uptick similar to the national trend.

“Subjectively, this (flu season) feels more severe compared to the last couple years,” Penn said. “It does seem to have hit harder…and reared its head pretty quickly around the holidays.”

Penn said as of a Thursday daily report, the hospital’s system recorded 229 positive flu tests — though he also added that he saw “another couple handfuls” of positive tests come through ahead of speaking with the Journal-World on Friday afternoon. The predominant strain has been the H3N2 strain, which has been the most reported strain nationally.

Penn noted that some places have called the strain this year a “super flu,” and did say there have been “some very ill patients” come into the hospital. The majority of cases across the country have been the “subclade K variant” of the H3N2 strain, and some health officials were concerned the flu vaccine missed that particular variant, according to Penn.

However, Penn said recent articles lead him to believe this season’s flu vaccine is “providing good protection,” and he would urge people worried about getting sick to get a vaccine. Other tips to avoid getting the flu include good handwashing, avoiding people who are sick and avoiding going out if you feel sick — tenets which Penn noted were “hammered into” people during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another positive that Penn has noted was that the hospital is testing “way more people” for the flu than the number of positive tests being recorded. As an infectious diseases physician, to him that means “people are clued into” the concern about the flu when they are suffering from flu-like symptoms and are seeking care appropriately. Additionally, Penn said he felt the combination Influenza A/B-COVID-19 at-home antigen tests are “pretty decent” as an indicator.

If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms — muscle aches, high fever, headaches, sore throat, a cough, shortness of breath — that could be a sign to get tested. Penn said that some of the “danger signs” that someone should seek medical care are if you are unable to keep “food and fluids down,” are experiencing increasing shortness of breath or experiencing cognitive issues.