MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - If it hasn't hit your house already, brace for it: the flu is hitting the Mid-South hard right now. Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis says it is getting slammed with kids with flu symptoms.
Doctors at Le Bonheur stress it is more important than ever to get a flu shot.
According to the hospital, an average of 300 children per day are coming in to the emergency room with flu symptoms. Of those, about 30 are so sick they're getting admitted to the hospital. That compares to about 10-12 kids a day last year.
Not only are more kids getting sick, the symptoms are also more severe.
"It was not only early, we saw it sustained all the way through the holidays," said Jon McCullers with Le Bonheur. "Now with kids going back this week we are worried the next couple of weeks, we could see another spike and it could be even worse than it's been the past few weeks."
Doctors say it takes about 7-10 days for a flu shot to take effect, and the peak of the flu season is expected to last as long as six more weeks.
