Flu Activity Remains High in Louisiana and Acadiana

It usually starts with a tickle in the back of your throat then that blossoms into a cough. From there, all bets are off. It could be a common cold. It could be the flu. It could be something similar but not exactly either. Whatever it is, it's got hospitals and clinics around South Louisiana quite busy.

While there has certainly been a lot of coverage on the Coronavirus and its spread that doesn't mean seasonal flu is taking a back seat. In fact, the latest findings from the Centers for Disease Control show that every state in the union has experienced flu cases this flu season.

The highest rate of flu activity remains in the southeast. By "southeast" I mean all of the Gulf South with the exception of Florida and many states well to the west and north geographically of what is usually considered the southeast.

If there is good news in this flu story it would be this. The Walgreen's Flu Index has removed Lafayette and Louisiana from its top spot and in fact its Top Ten most affected places in the nation.

This past week the hot spot for flu was El Paso Texas. New Mexico was the state with the most widely reported cases of flu. Texas wasn't too far behind followed by Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.

Health officials in Louisiana certainly recommend that you act at the first occurrence of symptoms that might be flu-related. This early detection and diagnosis could prevent you from suffering the symptoms of one of the world's most deadly diseases.  Of course, if you haven't gotten a flu shot almost every doctor I know will tell you loudly to go get one.