Skyrocketing flu cases in Boone County

Flu cases have skyrocketed, with an almost three-hundred percent increase last week than compared to the same week last year in Boone County.

ABC 17 News reached out to doctors and nurses, who said we have possibly reached our peak for the Type A strand of influenza, but there are three other strands that could still peak this winter.

For retiree, David Sapp, the flu season has been a rough one, “father in law that’s up in the hospital now, he’s got Type A and pneumonia, and my mother-in-law has Type A flu, and it’s very serious, we thought that we were going to lose him,” he said.

Wendy Castagno, the Infection Prevention Coordinator at Boone Hospital, told us that the third week of January was one of the worst weeks they have had in flu cases in the last ten years. There have been almost twice as many cases this year so far, than the entire season last year.

Castagno told us why that is, “it is a more virulent virus, it is more adaptable, and it can maneuver more easily in our immune system.”

Castagno and Dr. Tara Flynn of Mizzou Hospital both confirmed that the vaccination has not been as effective this year, and it is one of the many factors that may have made the flu season that much harder to control.

Dr. Flynn said, “we know it has not been as effective as other years. It’s still a good decision to get the flu shot though.”

Doctors are still saying to get the flu shot because it can protect you from the multiple strands, and possibly getting the flu twice.

In some parts of the country, Tamiflu has seen some shortages, but we did some research for you, and we found in Columbia and Boone County, facilities are stocked up.