The odds are tiny that a Dallas resident will catch Ebola if he or she hasn’t been around someone with the disease. The odds of suffering from fever, body aches and fatigue? Much higher.
That’s because flu season has officially kicked off. In coming months, thousands of people around the state will come down with that virus, which has symptoms not too different from the early signs of Ebola.
Given the general state of nervousness about Ebola, it’s likely that many of those people will show up at hospital emergency rooms or doctors’ offices, panicked. It’s a scenario that health officials say they’re bracing for.
“It’s going to be a tough winter,” said Dr. Don Murphey, medical director of pediatric infectious disease at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.
The best prescription, doctors say, is a simple one: Get a flu shot.
Murphey and others said they were reminded of the swine flu outbreak of 2009 and 2010. As news spread of people contracting — and sometimes dying of — the infection, self-diagnosed patients showed up at hospitals in droves.
“People were very anxious, and they overwhelmed some of the emergency departments,” said Steve Love, president and chief executive of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
That was especially true at children’s hospitals, where worried parents had to be calmed, Love said.
“The physicians and nurses all had to explain that you are not exhibiting anything that would indicate that we need to test you,” he said. “We only have X number of test kits, and we don’t want to waste one when it isn’t needed.”
This year could be worse.
“That was frightening; this is even more frightening,” Murphey said. “Ebola is much more dangerous than the flu.”
Ruling it out
The peak period for flu in Dallas is January and February, but patients have already begun showing up at local hospitals thinking Ebola. In most cases, doctors simply inquire about the patients’ travel histories, and ask if they’ve been exposed to anyone known to be infected with the Ebola virus. If not, the doctors can rule out Ebola.
But just having those people coming to emergency rooms can strain hospitals, especially with the region already in the midst of a genuine public health emergency.
“Not only do you have to adjust your staffing, but you have more people waiting in the emergency room and they have longer wait times,” Love said.
Hospitals are already seeing an increase in ER visits since Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas started diverting people from its emergency room. Presbyterian — where Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan died and where two nurses have since tested positive for the virus — took that step so it could deal with its staffers who are being monitored for signs of the disease.
Education, prevention
Flu season usually leads to an increase in emergency room visits anyway. This year could bring far more pressure.
The keys to handling the rush will be education and prevention, health officials said. Ebola remains a rare virus, and one that is difficult to contract. If more people know that, fewer will panic.
“Ebola is the result of coming into contact with someone having the active disease or having contact with bodily fluids” from an active patient, said Dr. Christopher Perkins, medical director for Dallas County Health and Human Services. “The flu is spread through airborne [transmission] and contaminated surfaces. These two are not similar.”
But attempts to spread that word haven’t quelled fears so far. Schools in Texas have closed, and people perceived as possibly having been exposed to the Ebola virus have been sent home from work.
That’s why local officials say flu prevention may be even more important tool than Ebola education.
If people aren’t getting the flu, they won’t worry that they have Ebola. If people get vaccinated, their chances of getting the flu diminish.
“An ounce of prevention,” said Murphey, “is worth a pound of cure.”
Even as the Dallas County health department deals with the Ebola crisis — an effort that has cost more than $1 million already — it’s working to promote flu vaccinations.
Influenza, after all, poses a far greater health risk to Americans than Ebola. Tens of thousands of people die each year from the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, one person has died in the United States from Ebola.
Side effects of flu vaccine
Although a flu vaccine cannot cause the flu, it can lead to mild side effects, some of which might be mistaken for early symptoms of Ebola.
The first signs of Ebola include the sudden onset of fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. Later symptoms include vomiting.
The flu vaccine injection may cause a low-grade fever, aches, and soreness or swelling where the shot was given.
The flu vaccine nasal spray may cause children to suffer a runny nose, wheezing, headaches, vomiting, muscle aches and a fever. Adults may have a runny nose, headaches, sore throat and cough.
SOURCES: World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Follow Matthew Watkins on Twitter at @mwatkinsDMN.
