KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If it seems like more people have been calling out sick at work, or more kids are staying home from school with a fever than usual — you’re not imagining it.
A doctor 41 Action News spoke to said while some cold and flu seasons are worse than others, this season has been particularly bad.
Officials with Saint Luke’s Health System said they’ve seen a large number of cold, flu, strep throat, pneumonia and respiratory illness cases in the 2019-2020 season.
While many joke about the ups and downs of Midwestern weather, Dr. Marsha Weaver said it could be playing a role in the increase of sickness.
“It could be related to our weather kind of going up and down, and temperatures,” Weaver said. “Sometimes we see that when there's variation in temperature, we'll see a little bit more illness."
Jessica Pepper, area manager of Saint Luke’s clinics, said the system’s clinics are seeing higher numbers than is typical for this time of year.
“All of our clinics are seeing higher numbers of patients than normal for this time of year for us,” Pepper said. “It always picks up during flu season, but this flu season has been even higher numbers for us."
Weaver said a patient should be fever-free for 48 hours before returning to work or school.
With the increase in patients, Pepper said wait times at clinics could be longer than usual. There are ways to reduce or avoid wait times, she and Weaver said.
—
