CINCINNATI -- University of Cincinnati physician Michael Jerkins had been so busy treating cases of the flu -- between seven and 15 each day -- he didn't noticed he was coming down with it, too.
"I actually just thought it was a moderate cold," he said Tuesday.
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But it was influenza, and he, along with two other physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, became part of what fellow doctor Carl Fichtenbaum called a "flu epidemic."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 16 Indiana residents died of flu-related complications during the final week of 2017, and the Ohio Department of Health reported 2,000 Ohoians were hospitalized in the back half of the year.
Fichtenabum said he predicts a 40 percent increases in flu cases in 2018.
"The people affected the most by this are those people who have other medical conditions," he said. "And, of course, the very old and the very young."
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The best defense is still a flu shot, he added.
Over 40 Greater Cincinnati Walgreens, CVS and Kroger pharmacies offer in-store immunizations, and Vaccine Finder helps users locate a shot provider near them.
