There's growing concern over this year's flu season. It arrived early and with a vengeance. 41 states declared a public health emergencies after 18 people died from the illness. In Connecticut, more than 1,000 flu cases had been reported to the state as of last week.
Emergency rooms have been overwhelmed so far this week. Some doctors said wait times were up to ten hours long. At Hartford Hospital, a spokeswoman told NBC Connecticut 800 beds were full on Wednesday night, which was an all time high. Some hospitals were at capacity, mostly with a spike in flu patients since Sunday. "It's something we have not seen at this level of severity and this early in the season," said Eric Berthel with the Eastern Connecticut Health Network.
The situation was so severe, some hospitals made strict rules for visitors. Manchester Memorial was one of them. Restrictions there just started this week. You can't visit if you're under 18 years old or if you're feeling sick, and wearing a mask is mandatory if you did not get a flu shot. "It's really important to protect everyone," Berthel added.
Flu shots were tough to come by too. Some doctors offices were out of vaccines. Hartford HealthCare Medical Group in Enfield only had a few left. "We are trying to work with our colleagues in other offices to see if they have extra supply, and we are having patients come back from their flu shots," said Dr. Vasanth Kainkaryam. He told NBC Connecticut more people wanted them now that full season was in full swing. "I personally have patients who are saying that and coming in," Kainkaryam added.
Appointments were tough to come by as well. "We are seeing a lot of patients walking out and calling for same day appointment with flu-like symptoms," Kainkaryam said. Flu season hadn't even reached its peak. "We started to see flu in early December in the past twelve years, and this is the earliest we've started to see the flu," he explained.
The state said it would release the most current numbers of flu cases on Thursday.
