Flu is surging in New York state. Christopher Guzda, D.O., system emergency department director at St. Peter’s Health Partners, discusses the impact of what’s shaping up to be the most severe flu season we’ve experienced in more than a decade, during an interview with the Times Union.
From the report:
As of Feb. 1, 3,138 people in New York who were hospitalized tested positive for the flu. It’s the highest number of people hospitalized with the flu since online records became available in 2009-2010, according to state Health Department data.
Health officials noted hospitalizations are a good metric to account for the prevalence of the flu because those not sick enough for hospital care often do not get tested.
Many hospitals across the Capital Region are at or near capacity — creating back-ups in emergency departments that have forced some patients to wait 10-to-12 hours before either being discharged or moved to an inpatient bed, according to Dr. Christopher Guzda, system emergency department director at St. Peter’s Health Partners. The health care system oversees the emergency departments at Albany Memorial Hospital and St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, and Samaritan Hospital in Troy.
He said the flu season for 2024-2025 is notably more severe than in prior years, with more people showing symptoms. Those who are admitted to the hospital with influenza are dehydrated and/or need oxygen. They are typically older or are struggling with other heart and lung conditions. The last time local hospitals had to deal with such a surge was in 2020 and 2021, the initial years of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Guzda urged people to stay home from work and keep their children home from school if they are sick, immediately reach out to their primary care doctor to see if they should take antiviral medication and avoid the emergency department unless they have pain in their chest or breathing trouble.
“If it’s just a little fever, you’re still able to eat, drink and breathe OK, most of the time— it’s OK to wait it out at home,” Wales said. “If you have co-morbidities you might want to get Tamiflu. Primary care or urgent care can prescribe those medications.”
For the first time, there are also flu tests available at pharmacies. The tests are paired with the at-home COVID-19 tests and detect Influenza A and B strains. Most flu samples in New York and nationwide are coming back as Influenza A strains, according to state and federal data.
“Help us out on the front lines,” Guzda said. “There are patients who have flu and are really sick and need the ER. If our community can help us out in any way shape or form, that would help the front-line workers.”He said doctors are hoping that the seasonal flu spike will die down by the beginning of spring.
“When I’m looking at the New York graph, it seems like we’re near hitting a peak or a plateau. So, fingers crossed, hopefully as we enter March we’ll be past peak,” Guzda said.
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