ATLANTA — Doctors across Georgia are seeing a higher number of flu visits among kids. Dr. Hugo Scornik, president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is a pediatrician based in Conyers. He said children under the age of five typically experience the worst symptoms.
"Flu season seems to have arrived in Georgia," Scornik said. “We’re seeing children coming in who are feeling pretty miserable, having high fevers, coughs, sore throats and not feeling well.”
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the state is registering some of the highest number of cases in the Southeast. Parents are split on the decision to get the flu vaccine. Lorraine Coryell said she and her family were not worried about the current flu season, which happens to coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I never felt there was a reason to take a flu shot," Coryell said. "I’ve never done it my whole life. They haven’t either. So far, knock on wood, we’ve never contracted the flu.”
Coryell said her family regularly practices safe hygiene measures. Others on the fence over the vaccine are concerned not as many kids were exposed to the current strain of the flu due to more than a year of social distancing, isolating and masking. However, doctors like Scornik suggest the flu vaccine is the best way to ward off severe infection.
"The flu shot should be as effective as ever," Scornik said. "We did have a very mild flu season last year, probably because of all the social distancing and masking measures taking place last year."
Parul Benders has three sons, and each of them is vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19. Her eight-year-old got COVID at the start of the school year, and at the time, he was not eligible to be vaccinated. He has since gotten his COVID shot, and Benders said she did not want to take a chance with her family's health.
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“There was definitely an increased concern for us, considering how much could be floating around with the lack of flu from the previous year, how the strains would be, and just how that would interact if someone were to catch the flu or COVID in our household," Benders said. “Why not take that extra step if it’s not really going to affect you negatively and protect yourself as well as the people around you? I'm pretty confident in the flu shot doing what it needs to do."
State data said kids four and under account for nearly 40% of the more than 17,000 flu-related doctor visits in Georgia so far this flu season. Flu visits are currently up nearly 60-percent this year compared to this same time period a year ago. Scornik said flu season typically peaks around January to February, before dipping back down late into the spring.
"I think the best thing is just to be prepared," Scornik said. "It is a little scary that COVID and the flu are both circulating at the same time. Things like good hand-washing, wearing a mask and getting a vaccine are applicable to COVID and the flu.”
Scornik said anyone over six months is eligible to get a flu vaccine. Anyone over age two is able to get the vaccine in the form of a nasal spray. The flu vaccine can be taken on the same day as the COVID vaccine. Scornik advised parents to talk to their pediatrician about their options.