Doctor Ryan McMorries says in Hartselle, they’re now seeing dozens of flu patients a day. They don’t genetically test for the specific virus, but he suspects the majority of their patients have the H3N2 – subclade K variant flu.
That strain was identified in August after scientists chose the strains to include for this year’s flu vaccine. It’s unclear if this strain is more dangerous than other strains. McMorries believes it’s just much more contagious.
“So, the more spread you have of a virus, the more likely harm will come from it,” said McMorries. “So, the cases we’ve seen here aren’t as severe as cases we’ve seen the year before, as much as just more people are catching it. So, the more people that catch a virus, the likelihood of someone having a harmful reaction from it or getting really sick from it is higher just because there’s more people catching it.”…