This winter's outbreak

of the flu virus has pushed the number of visits to Fayette Community

Hospital's emergency room up 30 percent from normal levels, raising

the wait times to see a physician and prompting hospital officials to

ask for understanding from the community.

The holidays are traditionally

among the busiest times of the year for emergency visits anyway, said

hospital spokeswoman Ryan Duffy. Schools are closed and family is in town

to visit, and many private doctors close their offices, said Duffy.

Add in hundreds of flu sufferers

seeking relief, and the backlog grows quickly.

"It's going to be

a long wait," Duffy confessed of the time to see a doctor at the

hospital for non-life threatening cases. Because of the nature of this

particular flu virus and efforts to identify the strain, hospital workers

are running additional tests on sick visitors that may also add to the

time, Duffy said.

"It's taking longer

to get through our system because our volume is up," she said. "We

have a facility that's only so big and we still have heart attacks

and broken limbs and other emergencies as well."

Built to handle about 20,000

visitors a year, Fayette Community's emergency room will see nearly

twice that many this year, in excess of 35,000 Duffy said.

"We've watched our

staffing very closely and made sure we have what it takes to handle the

volumes that are coming through," she said. "We could crank

people through, but if you're sick, you're sick and we intend

to take care of you."

Duffy said this flu shouldn't

be taken lightly.

"The news coverage we

are seeing as consumers about the flu is really frightening," Duffy

said.

While Georgia's blundered

attempt to purchase $1.65 million in flu shots has been making the news,

Duffy said it's still a good idea to get the vaccine if you can find

it through private doctors or the county health department.

The hospital does not issue

flu shots, she said.

Duffy encouraged flu sufferers

to visit the hospital's minor immediate care emergency room at the

Fayette Medicla Clinic, which has been staying open until all patients

are seen even tough its posted hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The quality of service remains

the same as one gets at the hospital, Duffy said. "We will take care

of everyone with the highest quality care and as promptly as possible."

The school system's holiday

break could help put a dent in the spread of the flu, though Duffy said

there's no evidence to suggest it's had an impact so far.

Fayette County classrooms that

seemed unusually sparse in the days leading up to Christmas break didn't

warrant concern at the school system's central office.

Spokeswoman Melinda Berry-Dreisbach

said late last week that no reports of excessive absenteeism had come

in from any of the district's 29 schools, despite the impression

that the whole county was ill.

Debbie King, supervising health

nurse over all the school clinics, said absenteeism ranged between 8 percent

and 13 percent the week of Dec. 15-19. On a normal day, Fayette County

Schools average about 96 percent attendance, among the highest rates in

the state.

King said that serious consideration

of closing schools due to overwhelming illness would only be considered

if absenteeism nears the 50 percent range, and then not so much out of

concern that too many students are missing lessons, but rather for the

teachers.

"If there are that many

kids sick, then it's likely our teachers are sick, too," said

King. After all, there are a limited number of substitutes available as

well. And even subs call in sick.

"If we can't staff

the classrooms, we'd have to shut down," King said.

KEEPING THE FLU OUT OF SCHOOL

WASH THOSE HANDS: Everyone,

especially students, teachers and school staff should wash their hands

several times a day, and avoid contact with someone sneezing or coughing.

STAY HOME: A sick child is

advised to remain at home during the first couple of days of illness when

symptoms are most severe and the infection is most contagious. A child

can return to school when symptoms are improving and he has had no fever

for at least 24 hours.

FLU HOLIDAYS: School closings

have not been shown to be an effective control measure. If necessary because

of high absenteeism, the decision to temporarily close a school is made

SHOT IN THE DARK: It is not

too late to get a flu shot, if the vaccine can be located. The Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends yearly flu vaccine

for anyone with a chronic medical condition or a weakened immune system,

people aged 50 years and older, children aged 6-24 months, and women more

than 3 months pregnant during flu season. Flu vaccine should be considered

for people who want to protect themselves and others around them against

the flu. Although vaccination just before the flu season is best, the

flu season can last weeks or even months, so vaccination during the season

is better than not being vaccinated at all.

ON THE WEB

More information on Influenza

and Influenza Vaccine can be found at:

-�Georgia Immunization

Program - health.state.ga.us/programs/immunization/flu.shtml

-�Georgia Influenza Surveillance

- health.state.ga.us/epi/flu/

-�CDC National Immunization

Program - www.cdc.gov/nip/flu/default.htm

-�CDC Influenza Surveillance

- www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/weeklychoice.htm

-�Georgia Department of

Human Resources, Division of Public Health Phone: 404-657-2588 Fax: 404-657-7517

Web: https://health.state.ga.us/