SAN ANTONIO — A warning to get your flu shot now, before it's too late.
In the Fort Worth area, the ambulance service Med Star reports they're seeing triple the number of flu calls, compared to this time last year.
According to San Antonio Metro Health's weekly flu report, there has been an increase in reported cases in the first week of November.
David Gude, chief operating officer and physician with Texas MedClinic in San Antonio said their 19 metro locations are keeping a close eye on the number of reported flu cases, but are experiencing low-level activity.
"We start out usually slowly but then once it starts going up it goes up rather sharply," Gude said. "Last year, which was a particularly bad year, we did in fact see some uptick in late November; although things didn't get rolling until December into January."
Last flu season was the deadliest in four decades. The CDC reported that influenza killed 185 children; 80 percent of those kids did not receive the flu vaccine.
"People just didn't get vaccinated at the same rate last year as they had in previous years," Gude said. "In young children it's hard to know if they have some of those flu symptoms or not. You don't know if they have a headache, because they're non-verbal, or chills, but if they are having fever and you don't have clear explanation, and especially if it was a sudden onset and they're under age five, if it's flu season I would have my child looked at and a decision made to get on medication or not."
Though the beginning of flu season in Texas started in October, there is still time to get your flu shot if you haven't already.
Gude said this year there is a new flu medication that is a daily medication, but he warns people that they need to get on treated within the first 24 to 48 hours for it to be the most effective.
Texas MedClinic also published an article in November debunking myths about the flu shot.