Hospitals Have Been Overwhelmed By Influx Of Patients This Flu Season
Some are barring visitors from the waiting room to save chairs for patients, while others have had to set up tents to accommodate the overflow.
Fresno Bee:
If You Want Quick Care For The Flu, Don’t Go To A Hospital
Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno has been so busy this winter that the hospital has had to put the emergency department on lockdown, barring visitors from the waiting room to make seats available for patients. Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia is using a tent as an overflow waiting room for patients and family members who accompany them. Many of the patients in hospital emergency departments have the flu. This year’s virus strains are extremely infectious and harmful. California has reported 97 influenza deaths of people younger than age 65 through Jan. 20. (Anderson, 1/29)
In other news from across the state —
KPCC:
Orange County Woman, Whose Stem Cell Transplant Was Delayed By Officials, Dies
A Garden Grove woman with leukemia, who last fall pegged her hopes for recovery on a stem cell transplant from her sister in Vietnam, has died. Helen Huynh, 61, died from complications from pneumonia on Friday, her daughter Yvonne Murray said Monday. (Replogle, 1/29)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento School Program Teaches Girls How To Avoid Sex Trafficking
As California faces some of the highest numbers of sex trafficking victims in the country, the high-energy program attempts to empower girls before they become vulnerable. It teaches girls self-worth and focuses on building inner strength. (Lambert, 1/29)
Los Angeles Times:
Anxiety After Possible Tuberculosis Case At Burbank High School
Anxious parents peppered Los Angeles County health officials with questions about the safety of their children after an individual at Johns Burroughs High School was diagnosed with a possible case of tuberculosis recently. The two dozen parents who attended a special meeting held at the school wanted to know if their children had been exposed to the disease and if there was a risk of it spreading to the general public. Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health worked at assuaging their fears. (Nguyen and Carpio, 1/29)