Doctors across Western Pennsylvania say flu activity is ramping up sharply this season, with some providers in other parts of the country referring to a wave of severe cases as \u201csuper flu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allegheny Health Network internal medicine physician Dr. Brian Lamb said the flu circulating now appears different than what doctors were seeing earlier in the fall, when many people got vaccinated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flu we\u2019re seeing circulating now has changed a little bit from what it was three or four months ago when people started getting vaccinated,\u201d Lamb said. \u201cIt\u2019s become slightly more contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Data from the Allegheny County Health Department shows a steep increase in reported cases compared with the third week of December last year.<\/p>\n
During the third week of December 2024, the county reported 341 cases of influenza A and 366 total flu cases. This year, those numbers have climbed to about 900 cases of influenza A and more than 930 total flu cases.<\/p>\n
Doctors noted the data reflects reports from last week, before many families gathered for holiday celebrations.<\/p>\n
Lamb said he\u2019s also hearing concerns about lower vaccination rates and the impact that may be having as flu spreads more widely.<\/p>\n
\u201cVaccine rates are down throughout the area,\u201d Lamb said. \u201cThe perfect combination is a virus which may not respond the best to the shots and not enough people having the shots. And so we are seeing what we are calling a super flu \u2014 a lot more cases, a lot earlier in the year, and people are getting sicker.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that symptoms appear more intense for some patients this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has become slightly more contagious,\u201d Lamb said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing people get sicker \u2014 with more severe symptoms like sore throat, fever, cough, and chills \u2014 all the things we normally associate with the flu.\u201d<\/p>\n
At UPMC Washington, primary care physician Dr. Jacob Green said he has been seeing patients whose symptoms escalate quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a very fast onset of symptoms,\u201d Green said. \u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon for a patient to say this started last night, and within two or three hours, they felt very, very run down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green said a large portion of his patients on Friday came in with flu-like symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s a large portion of my patients today \u2014 a lot of people coming in with body aches and fevers, saying, \u2018I was just around someone who had this \u2014 what do you think it is?\u2019\u201d Green said. \u201cAnd most of the time, it\u2019s the flu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors at both AHN and UPMC recommend contacting a primary care provider or going to urgent care within 48 hours of symptom onset, when medications may be most effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really like to see patients within the first 48 hours,\u201d Green said. \u201cMedications like Tamiflu are only effective in that window. They don\u2019t kill the flu. They just help keep it from getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also recommend avoiding the emergency room unless symptoms are severe, including chest pain or shortness of breath.<\/p>\n
Doctors also say it\u2019s not too late to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n
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