JAN. 6, 2000-- The real Y2K bug has nothing to do with computers. It has more to do with human health.
It's the flu bug.
And it seems to have taken a head start this year in
many states.
On top of that, some pharmacies apparently can't keep flu medicine in stock.
News Specialist Scott Light has more.
That's the double whammy for at least one pharmacy we checked out.
However, there are certainly several good treatments for the flu.
The biggest factor right now is how widespread it is, affecting hospitals, doctor's offices, pharmacies nationwide and here in Utah.
Christopher Sotiriou has a supply and demand problem.
He's got too much demand for one particular flu drug and not enough supply to fill his customer's prescriptions.
Christopher Sotiriou: "We've just mainly told them that we haven't been able to get any from our suppliers and if they maybe want to check some hospital pharmacies."
The drug is his case is Relenza, a popular inhalant that helps battle the severity of the flu.
And it is severe when you consider pure land mass.
So far, 19 states report widespread cases of the flu including Utah.
Doctors in Pennsylvania and Maryland say it's already one of the worst seasons in years and there's still February and March to go.
At the University of Utah's Redwood Medical Center, the waiting room was packed Monday with many suffering from official flu symptoms-- fever, aches, hacking cough and fatigue.
Dr. Ina Amber/
Infectious Disease/Internal Medicine: "We've had a pretty active flu season this year where we're seeing cases in the primary care clinics and in urgent care every day."
Dr. Amber says if you've got the flu, the first 48 to 72 hours are critical to a quicker recovery.
And even though we're already into the flu season, it's still not too late to go ahead and get a flu shot.
Dr. Amber: "Particularly people who might be at risk or older people who have respiratory diseases who have a lot of chronic medical conditions. It's not too late to get the flu shot."
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