Swine Flu Fears Flood Emergency Rooms

The swine flu outbreak has local hospital emergency rooms inundated with patients according to local health officials.

"We are seeing roughly a third more patients a day than we might normally see in our emergency department," said Dr. Brent King of Memorial Hermann Hospital. "It can be attributed to people who are concerned that they may have this infection."

Now called the H1N1 Flu the deadly virus has been fueling fear of a major epidemic. Doctors say patients who are unnecessarily flooding the ER are creating major backlogs for other patients who really need emergency care.

Patients are being advised to call their family doctor first if they need to be tested for the H1N1 virus or stay home to avoid spreading the infection. Doctors say only take children to the ER if they experience fast breathing, have bluish or gray skin, are not waking up, have flu-like symptoms that improve, but then return with a fever and worse cough, or have a fever with a rash. Adults who should go to the ER are those who haves difficulty breathing, chest or abdomen pain, are feeling dizzy or confused, and are experiencing persistent vomiting.

"There are patients in our community who tested positive, but most of the cases have been relatively minor," said Dr. King.