Manatee County suffering with the flu; hospitals see record number in emergency rooms

MANATEE -- The flu has sent a record-breaking number of people to the emergency room at Manatee Memorial Hospital.

The hospital broke its all-time, single-day record for emergency room visits with 310 patients on Monday.

After a slow start, the flu is hitting Manatee County full force, said Teresa Rawe, medical director for the Emergency Department at Manatee Memorial.

"Our typical emergency room volume is 220 a day this time of year," Rawe said. "But the last two weeks we have been in the 240s and 250s and Monday hit our most ER visits ever in a single day, 310."

Of the 310 patients, staff at the hospital were able to see 306, Rawe said.

"We saw and discharged or admitted 306 patients," Rawe said. "We had never topped 300 patients seen. That was a first."

Last year, the flu season in Manatee started in September and October, but this year it blossomed two weeks ago, Rawe said.

Lakewood Ranch Hospital saw 141 emergency room patients on Monday; it typically sees 100.

Manatee Memorial ER expected to see 260 patients on Tuesday, above the normal rate of 220 for the entire day, Rawe added.

Manatee Memorial is seeing a "lot of Influenza A with an occasional Influenza B," Rawe said.

MCR Health Services, which has 25 locations in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties, has had a steady influx of patients with the flu over the last couple of weeks, said Dr. George Van Buren, medical director for MCR Health Services.

"Practicing infection control is most important right now," Van Buren said. "Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and wash your hands."

An official with the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County on Tuesday confirmed cases of the flu have increased in Manatee County over the past several weeks.

"The increase in influenza activity has been noted across the region and throughout Florida," said Carrie Harter, Director of Disease Control for the Department of Health in Manatee County. "We typically see the peak of influenza season around this time of year."

Although individual cases of influenza are not reportable to the health department, Harter said that visits to local hospital emergency rooms have been steadily increasing over the last three week. Manatee County schools have reported an increase in children diagnosed with the flu.

Influenza A 2009, also known as H1N1, is the strain predominately circulating in Manatee County, Harter said. The flu shot should be effective against H1N1.

"The vast majority of circulating flu viruses identified this season remain similar to the vaccine virus components for this season's flu vaccines," Harter said.

Harter strongly recommends people who haven't received a flu shot to get one. Although the Department of Health doesn't offer primary care services to treat flu patients, it does offer influenza vaccine through its immunization clinic.

"It's not too late to get a flu shot," Harter added. "We encourage anyone who has not yet been vaccinated this season to get vaccinated now."

The flu and common cold are both respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses, Harter said. The two illnesses have similar symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat and fatigue.

Rawe said the flu is much worse than a cold.

"It's like a cold on steroids," said Rawe, who caught the flu herself 10 days ago and is just now getting better. "It hits hard and fast," she said. "You will be feeling OK and then, fevers, chills, body aches, runny and stuff nose and coughing."

Manatee Memorial's ER was crammed with people complaining of those symptoms plus a persistent cough from upper respiratory distress, Rawe said.

Blake Medical Center did not respond to a request for flu impacts, but Rawe said she understands all three Manatee hospitals -- Blake, Manatee and Lakewood Ranch -- were "crushed" with flu patients and that Blake was on "diversion" meaning it couldn't accept any more patients Monday.

"A hospital goes on diversion when it's so busy it can become unsafe," Rawe said. "All three hospitals were crushed on Monday."

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Manatee County suffering with the flu; hospitals see record number in emergency rooms ."