Health Department: 13 flu deaths in R.I. this winter

PROVIDENCE — Partway into the 2018-19 flu season, Rhode Island is experiencing a geographically widespread and high-intensity level of infection — but thus far, the season has been less severe than last year's, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Through the middle of this week, 13 state residents have died from the flu, compared to 23 at this point last season. None of this year’s deaths have been children, who, along with the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, are at greatest risk of the disease.

And if you have not had your flu shot, go get it. That’s the advice from Department of Health spokesman Joseph Wendelken.

“The main public health message is that it is not too late to get vaccinated against the flu,” Wendelken told The Journal. “The flu is in Rhode Island every year through the end of the spring, so getting vaccinated now will still give people months of protection. One other reminder that we are making this year is, if someone is sick, we want that person to go to the place where they are going to get the quickest, most effective care.

“If you have the flu, sometimes that place is the emergency department, but often it is not. If you have the flu, usually the best thing to do is to call your primary care doctor. Your doctor will be able to talk to you about the next best steps. Another option, if you feel like you need it, is to go to an urgent care.”

As Wendelken notes, wait times in a hospital emergency room can be long, as patients “with the most dire health issues are going to get seen first. … When you have the flu, the last thing you want to do is be sitting in a waiting room.”

Nonetheless, severe cases of the flu are best treated in a hospital.

“Emergency warning signs that indicate that someone with the flu does need to go to the emergency department include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath; pain or pressure in the chest; and having flu-like symptoms that improve but then return with fever and worse cough,” the Health Department spokesman said.

According to the latest weekly flu report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vermont, Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama are among the other states experiencing high levels of flu activity. The three West Coast states, Montana, Wyoming, Maine and North Dakota are among those with low to minimal levels.