HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — As it gets closer to Christmas, doctors are raising concerns over the flu and other respiratory illnesses that can spread as families get together.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi went to Piedmont Hospital in Henry County, where she learned Georgia is already seeing a high number of infections.
Doctors at hospitals are seeing emergency rooms packed with people suffering from the flu and other respiratory illnesses. And the concern is, it’s just going to get worse as we get closer to the holiday.
A map from the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Georgia is in the high category for flu.
Doctors started seeing the numbers rise, as the temperatures dropped and people started staying indoors.
Since October, the health department said Georgia had 9 flu-related deaths and 325 hospitalizations.
Since Dec. 6, the health department added two more flu-related deaths and 80 hospitalizations.
And doctors fear, with family and friends celebrating the holiday together, respiratory illnesses like the flu will spread, especially among the most vulnerable, including the very old and very young.
“A lot of these illnesses are passed through respiratory droplets, a lot of people coughing, a lot of these people who are near each other especially during the holidays,” said Dr. Miles Medina of Piedmont Henry Hospital.
Flu symptoms include fever and chills, a cough, a sore throat, body aches and extreme tiredness.
These symptoms so similar to other respiratory illnesses, like RSV and COVID, that doctors say it’s really hard to tell the difference.
“You really don’t know until you get tested,” Medina said.
Doctors say if you’re really concerned about getting together with family and friend over the holiday, you might consider wearing a mask.
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