From what I have been seeing in hospital emergency rooms it seems like there is a really nasty flu making the rounds. Christmas morning I went with my Dad to the ER at an upstate hospital (near my brothers home) as he had a swollen hand. Turned out that he had a skin infection and they prescribed a course of antibiotics and let him go. It was at least a 4 hour wait as every emergency triage was occupied , mostly with elderly people coughing, gagging and in pain with flu symptoms. Last week I accidentally smashed my lower leg against a stone step and received a deep laceration. The next day I went to my local downstate hospital for treatment and had to wait a few hours. All around me were people coughing, hacking with flu symptoms. It took a couple hours but eventually I saw a doctor who cleaned, bandaged the wound and prescribed me a tetanus/diphtheria shot and a course of antibiotics. They told me to come back the next week for a routine wound check. When I got to the ER yesterday I couldn't believe it. Every seat was occupied mostly with parents holding children anywhere from a couple years old to their early teens, all suffering flu symptoms and complications. The man at the front desk said it might be four or five hour wait before someone can see me, As I was registering a woman came up to register her young teen age daughter for ER treatment. Apparently her daughter was hit with this flu and her pediatrician told her to bring her to the ER at once. The poor girl was dehydrated and she could barely stand. They gave her a mask and told her to wait..and wait...and wait... I stepped outside. I felt guilty. here I am coming for a simple wound check that is not infected and these poor people are worried about their children's lives. I went back inside, told the man at the front desk to cancel me as these people need help more so than me. I scheduled for my doctor to check me out at his office next week.

In any event there seems to be a nasty flu going around and it seems to be hitting those who get it hard.