GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – Hospitals across the Upstate are seeing a spike in flu cases.
Dr. Ryan Hoffman, the Medical Director of Emergency Services at Bon Secours St. Francis, says the increase is a surprise this late in the season.
“The weather, it’s 70 degrees today, and we’re seeing all this flu. Generally we associate influenza with colder weather, with bad weather, so those two kind of surprised us. I think just the fact that we had made it through December and January and hadn’t seen much, lulled us into a false sense of security that maybe this was going to be a really mild season.”
Dr. Hoffman says in past months, they’ve seen maybe four or five confirmed cases of flu a week. Just since Sunday, they’ve seen 60.
His number one piece of advice is to wash your hands. He also says lack of sleep and being dehydrated can make you more susceptible to getting sick.
