Flu Symptoms Showing Up Earlier Than Usual In W.Va., Nationwide

Patients with flu symptoms are beginning to show up at area health clinics -- one indication that there could be a higher number of influenza cases this season than there have been in recent years. 

“What we’re seeing is a rise in some key indicators of flu,” UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care’s Dr. Kane Maiers said. “Usually when that starts, it can ramp up pretty quickly.” 

Nationwide the number of influenza cases is still low, but on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a higher rate of flu hospitalizations than is normal at this point in the season in more than a decade.  

Typically flu season runs October to April. It ramps up when kids are back in school in proximity to each other and cooler temperatures drive everyone inside, where the air is drier and the virus can thrive. Flu symptoms are different, Maiers said, from the common cold, though both can involve a cough, runny nose and sinus issues. 

“The defining factors in my eyes for the flu are fever and body aches. Those are usually pretty significant, more so than you would see with a common cold,” he said. 

The trick, if you want to call it that, is to seek treatment quickly once symptoms begin.  

“The flu virus actually has medication that can be prescribed that can reduce the duration and severity of the illness and also make you less likely to spread it. That medicine has to be started within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms,” Maiers said. 

The symptoms typically begin to fade in five to seven days. But for older people and babies, as well as those with other health issues, the flu can be dangerous and sometimes fatal. Maiers says there are clear indicators that you need to seek immediate treatment. 

“If you start getting shortness of breath when you’re walking, fever that doesn’t come back down whenever you take Tylenol or Motrin, it’s progressing to something else other than just the standard flu,” Maiers said. “You could be developing a secondary pneumonia, bronchitis, things like that.” 

A flu shot takes effect roughly two weeks after it’s given and typically protects patients for six to eight months.