It’s the New Year and you’re not feeling so well. You have a cough, runny nose, body aches and a high fever. It sounds like you may have the flu!

At the beginning of the current flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that everyone over the age of 6 months should receive the injectable flu vaccine. In previous blog posts, AFC Urgent Care addressed basic flu prevention guidelines such as properly washing your hands, getting the flu shot, covering your sneezes/coughs and avoiding those who are sick. Yet there are times, where you just can’t seem to get away from all of those germs at work, in school, at the grocery stores and other daily locations.

Reported by the Department of Public Health (DPH), the state of Connecticut has continued to increase emergency room visits accredited to the “fever/flu syndrome” at 7% (above the statewide level of 5%), and Fairfield County is the second largest county reported with positive influenza laboratory tests, during the current flu season (8/2017 – 12/2017).  

At AFC Urgent Care, we can test for the flu in our in-house laboratory by doing a rapid nasal swab. If the flu is caught within 48 hours, our providers can prescribe medication that will shorten the duration of the flu and its symptoms. To avoid serious cases of bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma flare ups or in more severe cases hospitalization, treating the flu is highly recommended.

It’s not too late to get your flu shot. AFC Urgent Care is open 7 days a week with extended business hours and no appointment is ever needed.