The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 97, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 9, 2014 Page: 3 of 12
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The Bastrop Advertiser
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014 A3
LOCAL
HEALTH
Influenza cases widespread in area
Nicholette Lawson, a physician at Seton Smithville
Regional Hospital’s emergency room, says they are seeing
six to eight cases of flu per day. terry hagerty/Austin
COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
Smithville hospital
has been seeing 6-8
cases every day.
By Terry Hagerty
thagerty@acnnewspapers.
com
As in much of the rest
of Central Texas, there’s
an increase in flu cases
in the Bastrop and Smith-
ville areas, according to
emergency-room phy-
sicians who are treating
those cases.
“There’s a lot of flu -
we’ve had multiple pa-
tients testing positive for
flu,” said Nicholette Law-
son, an ER doctor at Se-
ton Smithville Region-
al Hospital. “We’re see-
ing three to four (cases)
every 12-hour shift in the
emergency room, which
is about six to eight per
day.”
Lawson said most of
the cases are testing
positive for Type-A flu,
which includes H1N1 flu,
although Lawson can’t
say how many of those
cases are H1N1, known as
swine flu. That strain is
considered highly infec-
tious and can be deadly
in humans.
She said the ER doesn’t
send samples to the state
for confirmation of H1N1
unless the person is
gravely ill.
Lawson’s reading of
the flu season parallels
a recent warning from
the Texas Department of
Health Services that “flu
is on the rise in Texas.”
St. David’s Healthcare
told the Austin Ameri-
can-Statesman last week
that there had been eight
flu deaths at its Travis
County hospitals.
Lawson also recom-
mends getting a flu shot.
“I don’t think it’s ev-
er too late to get a shot,”
she said.
Dr. Corey Jones, medi-
cal director of St. David’s
Emergency Center - Bas-
trop, said flu is prevalent
in Bastrop.
“We’ve been seeing a
lot of flu cases in Bastrop,
Sounds of the season
Carolers participate in a Bastrop candlelight stroll Dec. 20 while visiting downtown-
area churches. The event was sponsored by the Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance.
TERRY HAGERTY/AUSTIN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
starting right around
Thanksgiving, ” Jones
said.
He said H1N1 flu is “not
necessarily dangerous -
it is a common form of
the flu - but each year it
mutates and it is a pret-
ty bad strain (of flu) this
year.”
Jones also recom-
mends getting a flu shot.
“Absolutely, get a
shot,” Jones said. “It’s a
jump-start to help your
immune system fight off
the flu, and a shot de-
creases how virulent the
illness is.”
But he said getting a
shot does mean one is to-
tally immune.
“You can still get the
flu, after getting a vac-
cine (shot), but you have
a much milder form,”
Jones said, adding that
flu “keeps going as lng as
there are people not vac-
cinated, or who have not
had the flu.”
Jones said signs of flu
include “experiencing a
sore throat, congestion,
coughing, fever and body
aches.”
He said beside a shot
there are anti-viral medi-
cations to help.
“There are medica-
tions to help fight flu fast-
er, like Tamiflu, but they
need to be started at
least 48-72 hours within
the onset of symptoms,”
Jones said.
Both physicians’ take
on the flu situation mir-
rors a recent report from
the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
“Flu activity is increas-
ing nationally and is high
in some states,” the CDC
said in a bulletin. “Addi-
tional increases are ex-
pected in the coming
weeks.
“If you have not gotten
your flu vaccination yet
this season, you should
get one now. A flu vac-
cine is the first and best
way to protect yourself,
and the people around
you, from influenza and
its potentially serious
complications.”
Contact Terry Hagerty at 512-
321-2557.
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 97, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 9, 2014, newspaper, January 9, 2014; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth649122/m1/3/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.