Now it s sort of settled in his sinuses. He tried the Drixoral but it kept him awake all night and made him jittery. He s missed two days of work, and he never misses work. It seems to some that all of Durango is sick, but Health Department statistics don t reveal an unusual year. Some health professionals have informally observed a seemingly high number of flu cases, and others are seeing more colds.
None believe that the late arrival of influenza vaccines has influenced the rate of illness.
Of course flu isn t a reportable disease by numbers, so we may not have a completely accurate picture. Kevin Fox, Mercy Medical Center s emergency room supervisor, said that although the E.R. has seen 1,000 more patients this year than the year before, it is hard to pinpoint the reason for the increase. Although he wasn t sure what kind of virus it is, he said it seemed to be an equal-opportunistic one. The particular strain that seems most common has hit everyone equally. Fox said he doesn t know how long the illness persists in most patients, but can offer his own personal experience.