Hospitals in North Texas have seen a surge in post-holiday flu cases.
Children’s Health recorded 425 Influenza A cases across Dallas and Fort Worth over the past week. This represents a 52% jump from the week prior. At the same time, RSV cases subsided by 13%, and COVID-19 cases fell by 7%.
Despite the spike, Dr. Nikhil Bhayani, an infection prevention and epidemiology physician adviser at Texas Health Resources, says it is not unusual to see a rise in cases this time of year.
“There’s definitely a significant increase in the number of flu cases across North Texas, but once again, that’s expected especially in early winter and during the holiday season,” Bhayani said, per WFAA.
Earlier this week, The Dallas Express reported that norovirus cases have accelerated nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also known as the “stomach flu,” the infection can result in severe vomiting and diarrhea.
Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Health and Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in North Texas, says the hospital system has not registered any meaningful increase in norovirus cases locally, but they continue to monitor the situation.
“It’s very striking. You’re feeling well, then there’s a sudden episode of vomiting and explosive diarrhea and abdominal pain and this can occur over the matter of just a few hours,” Kahn said, per WFAA.
According to the CDC, the first severe bird flu cases in the United States were confirmed in December. An individual was hospitalized in Louisiana with a strain of the virus that had been spreading among wild birds and poultry in the U.S. and among several human cases in Canada and Washington State.
Since April, dozens of human cases of bird flu have been reported in the U.S., with all reporting mild symptoms except for the patient in Louisiana.