Last week, a wave of flu cases hit local schools, prompting a temporary closure for schools in Anson, Merkel, TLCA Abilene, and Benjamin. In response, the My ER 24-7 Mobile Med unit visited at least two schools to offer assistance to students and staff.
John Turner, Medical Director at My ER 24-7 says school attendance is being hit by influenza, strep throat, RSV, the common cold, and seasonal allergies. He says some people are returning to their regular activities too quickly, "A lot of what you hear running around is okay, so I'm good to go around once I've been on antibiotics for 48 hours right or so, four hours after a fever, then you're okay to go back to school. You hear people use those and schools and businesses try to apply them. The problem is that they behave differently, and it’s a guide, but it's not going to be a hard and fast, effective way of guaranteeing you're not going to spread it to somebody.”
Turner says the best thing to do is talk to your doctor to see how long you will be contagious and when it's safe to return to daily activities. He also notes that some patients with strep have required second or even third rounds of antibiotics to get well.
In January, the Texas Department of State Health Services launched an interactive dashboard that can help residents keep track of these viruses throughout the year. The dashboard is updated every Friday and includes a regional map for more specific data.