The Arkansas Department of Health’s latest flu report has rattled people living right here in central Arkansas. It reported 19 flu deaths, marking 26 flu deaths in two weeks.
Doctors and hospitals are doing their best to treat a large influx of flu patients, especially those with underlying health issues.
It is with those “high-risk” patients, where the concern lies.
Lisa McDougal, a Bryant woman living with COPD, said the fear of catching the flu has altered her life the past few weeks as the virus activity is still widespread.
“My biggest fear is getting the flu and not surviving it,” said McDougal.
She’s 61-years-old, a woman health care providers said is at a higher risk of death if catching the flu because of the underlining issues she's already battling.
"I cannot afford to get the flu at all,” she said. “I am a COPD and emphysema person.”
McDougal has made herself homebound this flu season, altering her everyday life and terrified of going out into public even though she got a shot.
“The flu is on the rise,” said Adam Blackerby, director of Saline Memorial Hospital’s surgical unit. “We’ve seen a lot of patients where it’s exacerbated.”
Blackerby hasn’t slowed down. He’s seen all the flu has to offer, especially these past few weeks.
"We've had a lot more patients hospitalized because of the flu,” he said.
The majority of them are patients like McDougal with other health problems.
She’s going to the extreme to avoid ending up in a hospital bed.
“If I do have to go out, I put on a mask, and I constantly wash my hands,” she said. "I try to go places when people really shouldn't be there that much, like last night I went to the library at 7 p.m."
Health care providers urge people with illnesses like COPD, diabetes or asthma to get immediate care if you experience flu symptoms such as fever, chills and full body aches.
"So the big thing to take away from this is you don't wait,” said Blackerby. “Go to an ER, come to our ER, a primary care physician. You don’t want to wait.”
Although it seems late in the season, the flu is still hanging around.
Doctors say it is not too late to get your flu shot.