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Although flu activity remains low at all four hospitals – Memorial
Medical Center in Springfield, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital
in Lincoln, Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville and
Taylorville Memorial Hospital – the state is seeing an increase of
flu activity, which led to IDPH recommending hospitals implement
visitor restrictions.
For the safety of patients and their families, Memorial Health
System is recommending that inpatient hospital visits be limited to
two visitors per patient at one time and that all visitors be 18
years old or older and show no signs of illness.
The health system also encourages those accompanying outpatients at
Memorial facilities to consider these same recommendations.
Seasonal flu activity usually peaks in January and February,
beginning as early as October and ending as late as May, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. As
many as 20 percent of all Americans get the flu each year.
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To prevent spread of the flu, the CDC recommends individuals take precautions to
avoid spreading germs, such as washing your hands thoroughly and often with soap
and water, covering your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough, and getting
your annual flu vaccination (available to those 6 months and older).
Most people who get the flu recover completely in one to two weeks, but some
people develop serious and potentially life-threatening medical complications,
such as pneumonia, according to the IDPH. Over the past decade, influenza and
pneumonia have been associated with an average of 3,500 deaths a year in
Illinois.
For additional information about the flu, including symptoms and prevention,
visit the CDC website, CDC.gov. More information about the flu can be found on
Memorial’s Live Well blog, LiveWellMagazine.org, including frequently asked
questions.
[Angela L. Stoltzenburg, MBA
Community Health Collaborative, Director
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital] |
