(Fremont County, WY) – Cases of the flu are many and on the rise for local Tribal members in the Wind River Reservation area, according to a post shared by Public Health Authority Paul J. Ebbert MD on the Wind River Family and Community Health Care Facebook page.
The notice is shared in full below.
To all tribal members:
We are currently experiencing the worst flu year that we have had since at least 2017. We have had many tribal members hospitalized with the flu, including children. The last time that I worked a hospital shift more than half of the people in the hospital were there because of influenza. This included three out of four ICU beds and more than half of the children in the hospital.
There are several things that tribal members can do to try and get control of this outbreak. Of course one of those things is that if you and your family, including your children have not had their flu shot they should get it.
There is treatment for the flu but it has to be given within the first three days of the illness. We are seeing many patients who have come after four, five or six days to the clinic and by then it is too late to give the treatment. So please if you are feeling really sick, especially with fever and cough then please come to the clinic early. The treatment can not only be given to those who are sick but can be given to other family members to prevent spread of the disease.
Our flu tests are, at best, 90% accurate. That means that some of you will have the flu even if your test is negative. Your provider may decide to treat you and your family even with a negative test depending on your symptoms.
There are, of course, other respiratory illnesses that are common at this time of year. Covid-19 is still common but most people are not getting very sick with it, though there are some exceptions. We are seeing some RSV both in kids and adults. Fortunately, there are now ways to protect both kids and older adults from this disease. Please check with your provider or your children’s provider to see if your family could benefit from one of these preventive measures. And of course, there are the usual colds and upper respiratory illnesses that are present at this time of year.
If you are sick, stay home from work and if your kids are sick, please keep them home from school.
30,000 to 60,000 people die in this country every year from the flu. Together we can minimize the effect of this disease in our community by taking the steps outlined above.
Paul J. Ebbert MD
Public Health Authority
Click here for a list of flu vaccine providers.