Rock Hill’s Piedmont Center sees this season’s first case of flu, a Florence evacuee

Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill diagnosed its first positive case of the 2018-’19 flu season, said Piedmont spokesperson Daisy Burroughs. The patient was a Florence evacuee from the east coast.

Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by a virus. Symptoms can include fever, cough, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, sore throat and nasal congestion.

The peak of the flu season is typically during the winter, but it is not uncommon for medical providers to see sporadic cases throughout the year, said Dr. Arash Poursina, Piedmont Medical Center infectious disease specialist in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Poursina said medical providers urge citizens to get a flu vaccine every year as the strain changes slightly each season.

“The single best weapon we have against influenza is vaccination,” he said. “It’s always been vaccination. It’s our most important tool.”

People should start getting flu vaccines at six months old, Poursina said.

The second best tool in the fight against flu is proper hand hygiene. Poursina said people should wash their hands with soap and hot water, 10-20 times during the day, and use hand sanitizer in between.

This is especially true during the peak flu months as more surfaces become contaminated, he said.

Poursina said it also is important that patients who experience flu-like symptoms but have a negative flu test still urge their providers to treat them, especially during the peak of the season. He said test samples aren’t always collected reliably.

“Treatment has been shown to significantly reduce secondary transmission of the virus and reduces mortality in patients with the disease,” Poursina said.

Those at risk for complications related to the flu, such as people with asthma or immune deficiency disorders, should be especially vigilant, Poursina said.