NoVA Flu Cases at Three Times Normal Rate
Inova hospitals say flu arrived sooner, is more widespread, causing spike in number of patients visiting emergency rooms.
While the Centers for Disease Control counts Virginia as one of the states seeing a spike in flu cases, flu is not a reportable disease, so hard numbers are difficult to come by. But Inova, the largest hospital system in Northern Virginia, is seeing a spike in the number of flu patients visiting their emergency rooms, a spokesman said. And across the area, it's the same story — three times as many — a county spokesman said. "We, like everyone else in the Metro region, have experienced an uptick over the past four weeks in both outpatient visits to our EDs [emergency rooms] as well as in-patient placements for those with flu-related complications," said Tony Raker, public relations director for Inova Hospitals in Northern Virginia. Members …
