Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/yourhealth/story/928825.html
Flu patients clog Treasure Valley emergency rooms
Most patients should just stay home, drink fluids and rest, Treasure Valley authorities say.
BY COLLEEN LAMAY - clamay@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: ? 2009 Idaho Statesman
Published: 10/08/09
Almost 300 coughing, feverish people went to St. Luke's last week, adding to waiting times, straining the hospital staff and risking spreading the illness.
The 287 recent visits are five times as many as the 55 people with flu-like symptoms who sought urgent or emergency treatment at St. Luke's Boise and Meridian medical centers and St. Luke's Eagle Urgent Care during the same week last year.
Fewer than 1 percent of the patients going to St. Luke's are sick enough to be admitted to the hospitals, but the Meridian hospital's emergency room has been hit so hard that officials are considering putting up a medical tent to treat them, spokesman Ken Dey said.
St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center in Nampa and West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell also reported seeing more patients with flu-like symptoms, with similar backlogs.
Most of the patients are believed to have H1N1 flu. Usually no testing is done because nearly all flu circulating in the U.S. now is H1N1 and tests are costly.
Not only do the flu patients risk making others sick, but their visits also require extra staff time, an hour or more, to disinfect the rooms where they were examined.
Vaccines for H1N1 flu are not publicly available yet in the Valley. Widespread vaccination clinics are planned, though a timetable has not been established yet.
In the meantime, most people should stay home if they have flu symptoms.
"And stay home for a full 24 hours after your fever is gone," said Nikki Sakata, program manager for communicable disease control at the Central District Health Department.
IDAHO'S SECOND H1N1-RELATED DEATH
? On Wednesday, the death of a Bannock County teenager with other health problems was linked to H1N1 flu. The first victim was a Canyon County man in his 50s.
Colleen LaMay: 377-6448
Flu patients clog Treasure Valley emergency rooms
Most patients should just stay home, drink fluids and rest, Treasure Valley authorities say.
BY COLLEEN LAMAY - clamay@idahostatesman.com
Copyright: ? 2009 Idaho Statesman
Published: 10/08/09
Almost 300 coughing, feverish people went to St. Luke's last week, adding to waiting times, straining the hospital staff and risking spreading the illness.
The 287 recent visits are five times as many as the 55 people with flu-like symptoms who sought urgent or emergency treatment at St. Luke's Boise and Meridian medical centers and St. Luke's Eagle Urgent Care during the same week last year.
Fewer than 1 percent of the patients going to St. Luke's are sick enough to be admitted to the hospitals, but the Meridian hospital's emergency room has been hit so hard that officials are considering putting up a medical tent to treat them, spokesman Ken Dey said.
St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center in Nampa and West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell also reported seeing more patients with flu-like symptoms, with similar backlogs.
Most of the patients are believed to have H1N1 flu. Usually no testing is done because nearly all flu circulating in the U.S. now is H1N1 and tests are costly.
Not only do the flu patients risk making others sick, but their visits also require extra staff time, an hour or more, to disinfect the rooms where they were examined.
Vaccines for H1N1 flu are not publicly available yet in the Valley. Widespread vaccination clinics are planned, though a timetable has not been established yet.
In the meantime, most people should stay home if they have flu symptoms.
"And stay home for a full 24 hours after your fever is gone," said Nikki Sakata, program manager for communicable disease control at the Central District Health Department.
IDAHO'S SECOND H1N1-RELATED DEATH
? On Wednesday, the death of a Bannock County teenager with other health problems was linked to H1N1 flu. The first victim was a Canyon County man in his 50s.
Colleen LaMay: 377-6448