Southern California hospitals grapple with flu patients ? and one has set up a tent
[FONT="]Southern California emergency rooms are seeing a surge of flu patients, and at least one hospital has set up an outdoor triage tent to handle the overflow of people with the flu or other illnesses.
?We?ve never had so many patients,? said Adrian Cotton, chief of medical operations at Loma Linda University Health in San Bernardino County.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Loma Linda emergency physicians are seeing about 60 more patients a day than usual, Cotton said.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]The need for the tent is told in San Bernardino County?s flu figures.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The county saw a 300-percent increase in the number of influenza reports in the first week of January, health officials said. Reports went from 38 to 150.
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[FONT="]There have been six reported deaths in Riverside County, compared to two during the entire previous flu season, health officials reported. Three people have so far died in San Bernardino County, compared to two last flu season.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Orange County has reported 3,041 flu cases this season so far, compared to the 1,012 cases this time last year. Seven have died from the flu, while no deaths had been reported this time last year.[/FONT]
[FONT="]In Los Angeles County, health officials on Jan. 12 reported 36 deaths this season, compared to 13 at the same time last year.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Note: Based on the reported figures, the tally for the state, by county is as follows:[/FONT]
Contra Costa: 6
Fresno: 1
LA: 36
Marin: 1
Monterey: 3
Orange: 7
Placer: 1
Riverside: 6
San Benito: 2
San Bernadino: 3
San Diego: 142
San Luis Obispo: 10
Santa Barbara: 8
Santa Clara: 5
Santa Cruz: 1
Shasta: 1
Stanislaus: 4
Solano: 2
Tulare: 2
Ventura: 1
Yolo: 1
Total: 260
Of these, three pediatric deaths have been reported, one each in Orange, Riverside, and San Diego Counties.