Flu season, already bad, could get even worse

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - There are reports that this flu season has been three times worse than last year, and there is still a few weeks to go, until the time where the flu season usually peaks.

"You know this year is way busier, and a lot more people are sick," said Dr. Dan Quan with the Maricopa Integrated Health System. "We're getting overwhelmed by the number of cases."

Dr. Quan said the number of cases could potentially cause problems.

"Everyone feels sick, everyone wants to come to the hospital to get some relief, but the bottom line is that it could potentially cause problems because there's so many patients that we can't get to the super-critical patients," said Dr. Quan.

As of last week, there were 2,488 confirmed cases of the flu in Maricopa County, and more than 5,000 across the state, about nine times as many more cases over the past five season average.

There is, however, still time to get a flu shot, even if you haven't yet

"If you get the flu shot, your illness may be less severe than if you didn't," said Dr. Quan.

As for relief, it could get worse before it gets better.

"There's some predictions, some CDC and some other experts, that maybe we'll see a slow down in the number of cases to the end of the month, but it's hard to say. It can go on for months," said Dr. Quan.