CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The misery has begun.
Some cases of the flu have already been confirmed in Nueces County, even though the flu season doesn't officially begin until next week.
A doctor we spoke to repeated the warning the Center for Disease Control put out just yesterday. That this this season in particular could be a severe one for flu.
That doctor also tells me it's almost like the last flu season never ended.
Leslie Reyes didn't want to take any chances when her kids got sick.
She took all three of her kids to the doctor.
Reyes got some good news.
"They're telling us that they don't have the flu, but they're showing a lot of flu-like symptoms.,” she said. “And it's a scary thing."
Others aren't as lucky.
Corpus Christi Medical Center Dr. Kim Onufrak says in the past few years, it’s almost as if the flu season never ends.
“It’s getting earlier and earlier this year,” she said. “There's not a flu season anymore. It's become more year-round and that's because of the weather."
And even during the summer months, they're seeing more people at the emergency room test positive for the disease.
"And now we do have some sporadically in May, June, and July,” Onufrak said. “So it's hard to really trend it now."
Onufrak also warns they've also been seeing more young, healthy people get sick with the flu in recent years.
And she expects this season to be no different.
For this mother - whose kids have already gotten their flu shot - it's especially concerning.
"For them to be showing signs of the flu and it's not even here yet. that is scary,” Reyes said.
The 2018-2019 flu season peaked with more than 800 cases around late February and early March in Nueces County.
There's no information for how many confirmed cases we have right now.
But there has been no reported activity in San Patricio County for the current season.
And as we reported yesterday, the CDC recommends that everyone six months of age or older get the flu shot soon.
Those shots are available at area pharmacies, the health department or from your doctor.
