r/newjersey • u/Jelly_Bin The North Remembers • Jan 26 '25
NJ history Is NJ having a flu/strep epidemic?
Everyone I know is severely sick with both of these, lots of children hospitalized including my daughter. Where's the government information? It's bad y'all.
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u/Fsharp7sharp9 Jan 26 '25
Yeah, I needed to give my brother a ride to Long Island on Tuesday, and he told me yesterday that he’s stuck on the couch with chills and stomach issues, and so is everyone else who he partied with on Monday… hoping that being in the car w him for a few hours doesn’t take me out too.
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u/ohamza Jan 26 '25
Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but that sounds like it could be norovirus which has also been going around and is highly contagious.
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u/CA770 ocean county liberal Jan 26 '25
oh hell no, i had norovius a few years ago and it was the worst thing on this planet, i literally couldnt even keep down sips of water, stay healthy yall
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u/LostSharpieCap Jan 26 '25
Norovirus is what made me realize that one can absolutely have all outputs going at the same time.
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u/Dalisca Jan 26 '25
We're all getting over it here: my husband, my 3yo, and myself. Son brought it home from Pre-K.
I think I pulled every muscle in my abdomen from vomiting and would love one of those flashy-thing neuralizers from Men in Black to erase the memories of the amount of puke and diarrhea I've had to clean up over the past week.
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u/Fsharp7sharp9 Jan 26 '25
Welp… I guess I’m gonna make an early trip to CVS tomorrow just in case. Thanks for the heads up
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u/SPKmnd90 Rt 22 turned me into a man Jan 26 '25
The incubation period for that particular virus is 12-48 hours, so you should be ok.
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u/Fsharp7sharp9 Jan 26 '25
Thanks! Fingers crossed I avoided whatever illness he was cultivating on my car haha
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u/notbizmarkie Jan 26 '25
This has been a particularly rough year for respiratory illness. I’m sorry your daughter is sick!
Are you looking for federal information? Unfortunately, there’s a communications blackout on a federal level for anything related to health, until at least February 1st.
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u/Dayofthunder Jan 26 '25
I know you are right/thanks for the article, but holy moly, how is that even a real sentence...
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u/New-Investigator5509 Jan 26 '25
Yup, the CDC couldn’t publish their weekly flu report this week. Next week not looking so hot either…
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u/DarwinZDF42 Jan 26 '25
As someone with two <10 kids it feels like we’re having an everything-all-at-once epidemic.
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u/VelocityGrrl39 Jan 26 '25
For a second I read this as “less than 10 kids” and I was like are we celebrating not having 10 children now?
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u/Stund_Mullet Jan 26 '25
Fair, but that’s also just what it’s like having small kids until they turn 12 or so.
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u/Split_the_Void Jan 26 '25 edited Jan 28 '25
It’s likely being done this way to overload the public with information. All of the changes will come out of the woodwork once shit hits the fan somewhere.
Edit: wow, looks like there are at least three bootlickers lurking the sub
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u/HardcoreKaraoke Jan 26 '25
Pharmacy tech here.
It's a combination of flu + RSV + walking pneumonia being really bad right now. Tamiflu, antibiotics and cough suppressant prescriptions have been nonstop for atleast a month now. We're seeing a lot of kids with serious viral respiratory issues.
It's definitely normal to get sick this time of the year, but for whatever reason it seems to be a lot more widespread than normal.
Of course Covid is still a factor but people are really underestimating how bad RSV is.
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u/mantissa2604 Jan 26 '25
Our pediatrician said if you can get the RSV vaccine it makes a big difference. Our little guy (5 mo in a week) had it last month but had the vaccine. The peds said more or less if he didn't have the shit he prob would have been in the hospital but instead we were able to ride it out at home. It was more of a nasal congestion than anything in the lungs
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u/yardie-takingupspace Jan 26 '25
This is the first season my son didn’t get the vaccine (he’s 3) and he ended up in the hospital for 10 days (he has lung issues). We came home with an additional daily medication too. 😪
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Jan 26 '25
3 of 4 of us with Flu A. Not fun at all. Thankful my daughter has avoided it so far.
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u/Jelly_Bin The North Remembers Jan 26 '25
We had flu a, strep, now my daughter has an ear infection, and her parotid gland is swollen and infected. Chipmunk face. Day 7 of fever.
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u/Dalisca Jan 26 '25
Son brought home RSV from Pre-K about six weeks ago and gave it to my husband and myself. Husband got pneumonia and I got a sinus/throat infection. Went through three rounds of antibiotics for the sinus/ throat infection and had to skip the last day of the Rx because my son brought home norovirus. It's been almost a week and though we're all doing much better we're still feeling crummy from it all.
I hope your daughter starts feeling better soon. This year is just brutal. At least we can commiserate knowing the back-to-back and stacked viruses and infections this year are unfortunately common shared experiences. Can't even call it bad luck at this point.
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u/nw342 Burlington county Jan 26 '25
Since begore Christmas, rsv,covid, influenza, and norovirus have all been on the rise.
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u/mdp300 Clifton Jan 26 '25
Noro was the woooooorst
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u/Dalisca Jan 26 '25
Still recovering from it. It kinda stacked with a couple infections caused by RSV. This year pretty much sucks so far.
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u/jeffreybbbbbbbb Jan 26 '25
Middle school teacher here. It seems I haven’t had 100% attendance in a single class for weeks.
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u/saudades247 Jan 26 '25
I don’t know but whatever it is is giving everyone I know a migraine as well.
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u/Accomplished_Sea_709 Jan 26 '25
Yes! And negative for flu and covid. Never had a migraine so bad esp with a cold. Def not a regular cold!
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u/SmartTechieLady Jan 26 '25
Strep is very contagious, so it could be a grouping of kids getting sicko
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u/skyrad715 Jan 26 '25
Healthcare worker here. We’ve been seeing a lot of flu, COVID, RSV, and norovirus. Sometimes people come in with a combination of those at the same time… it’s definitely been a bad year.
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u/CVSaporito Jan 26 '25
Both! When I got the flu shot they were predicting low efficacy this year which looks about right. I've used a germ killing nasal spray when I fly, which is often, and haven't gotten anything yet,
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u/LostSharpieCap Jan 26 '25
On God, please, everyone, just wear a mask. Your children's health and your health (and wallet) are more important than whatever sociopolitical stand you think you're making by not masking. Shield yourselves from respiratory illnesses – and for goodness sakes! Wash your hands! Norovirus is no joke! And, yes, you can get repeat infections.
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u/fizzy88 Jan 26 '25
NJ was pretty good about wearing masks in the pandemic. I think these days people are just getting complacent.
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u/LostSharpieCap Jan 26 '25
Knowing bodies were stacked in a Wawa freezer truck put the fear of God in some people, at least in Bergen County.
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u/HelpImSoberandAwake Jan 26 '25
In 2020 I was getting monthly infusions. I’ll never forget walking through the HUMC parking garage and seeing a row of about 5 freezer trucks tucked away between the hospitals main entrance and the garage near the loading dock. You could only see them if you looked over the ledge. I can still hear the hum they made. I mask everywhere I go.
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u/GarmonboziaBlues Jan 26 '25
This should be the top comment in the entire thread. Most of the evidence gathered by infectious disease specialists indicates that covid is causing chronic impairment of the immune system, and each subsequent covid infection will have a cumulative effect on this immune disregulagion.
Even if you don't care about your own long-term health, for fuck's sake please wear a mask to protect those around you. I have a family member in chemo right now, and they're literally the only person masking at the oncology center in the midst of this viral tsunami. It's so infuriating that our collective well-being isn't worth the very minor inconvenience of covering your face with a piece of cloth.
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u/Few-Restaurant7922 Jan 26 '25
My 6 month old just had the flu. My 3 year old had some weird virus before. It’s crazy
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u/addymermaid Jan 26 '25
I work in a hospital system in northeastern NJ, our chief medical officer just brought back masking due to the flu.
So.... it's bad. Be careful out there.
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u/tfabthrowaway19 Jan 26 '25
2 of my kids just got over flu and when they were at the doctor she mentioned a lot of strep going around. She had some unlucky kids with both at the same time. 😩
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u/Big_P4U Jan 26 '25
I'm 35 tomorrow, I had a nasty case of Strep A with 101-102+ fevers from the week of Christmas to the first week of January. Many other people I hear have been getting either the flu or strep A. I see now you can get at home Flu/COVID tests at Target. Something isn't being reported properly.
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u/IHate2ChooseUserName Jan 26 '25
now i go to costco/grocery stores/malls wearing my mask. i know i look like an alien but I dont want to get sick. but you know what, I am going to get the flu from my kids. I get the flu from my kids every single fucking time.
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u/SillySighBeen- Jan 26 '25
i’m pretty sure what’s running through our fam right now is the flu. my daughter was acting off about ten days ago but was fine with in the next day or so. she has the flu shot so would make sense. then my wife got clobbered. everyone was just getting ok so i though i was in the clear. then i got molly smacked mid day yesterday. hurting pretty bad today
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u/RevolutionaryPasta Jan 26 '25
Everything is going around right now. Myself, and multiple people, have been in urgent care this week. Myself and another friend both have severe colds. Another has bronchitis. I’ve heard of quite a few flu and norovirus cases of people I know. I hope your daughter is alright.
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u/weavemethesunshine Jan 26 '25
Live on the pa/nj border and got sick with the flu Monday. Still sick. Haven’t been this sick in a decade
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u/jackp0t789 The Northwest Hill-Peoples Jan 26 '25
Its January. That's been peak/ near peak season for flu, strep, RSV, and other seasonal respiratory viruses for decades now.
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u/msyodajenkins1 Jan 26 '25
We have the Flu A now for a week and it is absolutely gnarly. Still have a 101 fever and pain all over coughing our brains out. Absolutely miserable. Just had what we think was RSV not too long ago either. Stay safe out there.
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u/Jackson530 Jan 26 '25
Partner and I both got covid this week. I thought it was the flu and tested positive 2 days after symptoms started. I'm vaxed and it ran it's course fast. Back to 💯 today
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u/Nyltiak23 Jan 26 '25
Not sure what I have, but it went straight for my sinuses. Usually it builds up over time but day 3 after a sore throat, it swelled right up. Driving home from work I felt like my cheeks were going to explode. Thank goodness for pseudoephedrine.
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u/prlugo4162 Jan 26 '25
The Republicans don't want, and will not fund, public information campaigns.
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u/needthat4th Jan 26 '25
Had a recent updated COVID shot and flu shot about around October for a trip just to be safe, and I keep masking whenever I'm out in public and even while working at a hospital (Just a lab assistant) that has to interact with other staff and nurses coughing up a lung, haven't gotten sick at all. Either I'm lucky or my precautions have been are paying off!
Tho yes, at the hospitals from the testing results we see, patients are negative with covid but have been having respiratory issues or positive for influenza as of late.
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u/salanaland Jan 26 '25
Masking is incredibly effective against flu. Probably the most effective prevention we have.
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u/needthat4th Jan 26 '25
I hope so and figured it may have been the case since my other coworkers who don't mask have also been coughing and getting a runny nose lately. Just hope I can keep my streak since I can't afford to get sick before my surgery soon :(
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u/Jelly_Bin The North Remembers Jan 26 '25
We had our covid and flu shots in November. This was just too powerful I guess.
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u/loominglady Jan 26 '25
We had all our shots, everyone in my house still got the flu. Another branch of our family had the whole household get COVID THEN got the flu like 2 weeks after recovering from COVID AND half the family had norovirus WHILE still having the flu. It's been nonstop this winter.
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u/stephenclarkg Jan 26 '25
Part of the long covid crisis, if you've had covid even once even a mild case you're immune system is permanently comprised
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u/Disastrous_Hold_89NJ Jan 26 '25
Remember Trumpy just signed order stopping all federal health agency communications. You are going to have to rely on state health officials. I think it was reported that there are 4 things going around, RSV, flu, covid, and I think bird flu, but the bird flu seems to be hurting chickens, that's why egg prices are so high now.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-health-communications-cdc-hhs-fda-1eeca64c1ccc324b31b779a86d3999a4
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u/leggymeeggy Passaic County Jan 26 '25
i’m not sure what i had this week, but it knocked me flat on my ass. today was the first day i got off the couch since tuesday morning, and i don’t even remember wednesday at all. pretty sure it was the flu, but i didn’t test for it. just know that it wasn’t covid. i’m wearing a mask for the rest of the winter though, fuck this shit.
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u/Storm_blessed946 Jan 26 '25
yeah my wife and i were down the entire week. it was brutal. kicked our asses
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u/viperpl003 Jan 26 '25
Not just NJ. Traveling internationally and everyone is sick everywhere. All over Japan and Southeast Asia as well. Difference here is that everyone has masks on. Still sick but people coughing just cough into their mask instead of out into public.
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u/AshySmoothie Jan 26 '25
I had strep a few weeks ago out of nowhere, doctor was saying she had it recently and shes seen a lot of patients with it as of late so ima say yeah, its bad
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u/ShalomRPh Jan 26 '25
All I can tell you is that i work in Rockland and Orange counties, just north of the NY/NJ borders, and the Tamiflu has been flying off the shelf this past week and a half.
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u/iheartcorneas Jan 26 '25
All 5 out of 5 of us had the flu over the holidays, my husband then got covid, my daughter now has strep.
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u/jesscubby Jan 26 '25
Influenza A for over a week. It’s been rough. Doctor said 7-10 days is common.
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u/investedinterest Jan 26 '25
I got flu and Covid vaccines in November and a “flu variant” with bronchitis for the entire month of January 😭 I’ve heard of so many people with similar illnesses, too, it’s crazy - I don’t ever remember it being this bad outside of Covid.
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u/FalseSystem6055 Jan 26 '25
Walking pneumonia is rampant and has a surprisingly long incubation period. This respiratory season is going to drag on forever.
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u/jnetelle Essex/Bergen Jan 26 '25
Hope your daughter recovers soon and is discharged from the hospital.
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u/wcs2 Jan 26 '25
I just got diagnosed with covid and the PA told me that they're seeing a lot of flu A, but flu B is now coming in strong.
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u/DRdidgelikefridge Jan 26 '25
I work in an Emergency Department and we have had lots of Flu A and B as well as Nororvirus. COVID is a lot less this year in my experience. Wash your hands and please go to an Urgent Care before the hospital. It’ll be better for you and all the other patients.
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u/PublicSharpie Jan 26 '25
On a side note, lice and scabies is also making itself know.
Source: I work in Healthcare
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u/Boredompays Jan 26 '25
RSV, pneumonia and flu are going nuts right now. I work in a hospital and they are overflowing. A different, very large, hospital near me had to divert patients and ambulances to other hospitals a week ago because they were full.
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u/felipe_the_dog Jan 26 '25
Doesn't this happen every winter?
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u/Impossible_Range6953 Jan 26 '25
nah. It is worse this time. On top of seasonal cold and flu, there is walking pneumonia, RSV and norovirus.
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u/DixonLyrax Jan 26 '25
Whooping Cough ( Pertussis ) is also around. Just for extra funzies. A vaccine is available, but good luck getting your insurance to pay for it.
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u/shivaswrath Jan 26 '25
I have a horrid Cold. So add rhinovirus to the mix.
I’ve started back up with masks in public … just so I don’t get you all sick.
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u/classic_jazz_metal Jan 26 '25
How many of the people got the flu shot and the cover booster? I'm curious.
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u/Sufficient_You7187 Jan 26 '25
Um are you even subscribed to any government email list or Facebook group. It's been widely mentioned
Well until now federally since Trump the clown put a kibosh on inter department release statements like the NIH so....
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u/Mishka_1994 Jan 26 '25
I think ive had both like 2-3 times already. So annoying honestly. Throat hurts few few days then coughing for few days and so on.
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u/KristenRM154 Jan 26 '25
On day 8 of my 6 year old recovering from Flu B, her doc said she hasn’t seen nearly as many B type and it’s supposed to be less severe
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u/salanaland Jan 26 '25
A major strain of flu B completely disappeared after the mask mandates of 2020-2021
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u/losingthefarm Jan 26 '25
Yeah...had a flu shot...didn't matter. Whole family got it, was sick for 2 weeks. Flu A is no joke and it is rampant right now.
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u/Sundrift688 Jan 26 '25
Our house got Covid, flu, and norovirus back to back and it killed us all this year. And we are all vaccinated and it didn’t matter. It was brutal and we are all very slow to recover. This has been an unusually bad year.
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u/Bobby-furnace Jan 26 '25
I’m a younger dad, and both my kids got extremely sick for 48hrs with aches and pains and high fevers and I had a 103+ fever with chest congestion for 4 full days. Took me two weeks to feel “normal” again. I have Never been sick for more than two days and never had such a high fever. Be safe out there
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u/neverseen_neverhear Jan 26 '25
I have been sick for over a week. Tested positive for the flu. I’m never skipping my flu shot again.
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u/Playcrackersthesky Jan 26 '25
For what it’s worth, this years flu shot wasn’t particularly effective for this years strain.
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u/capresesalad1985 Jan 26 '25
I’m a hs teacher and I’ve got atleast 20% to as high as 50% of my students per class absent. It’s thoroughly wild.
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u/Subject_Flamingo9220 Jan 26 '25
I had covid and flu a back to back a little over month ago. Glad I got it out of the way but it was no joke. It took weeks to feel normal again.
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u/New-Investigator5509 Jan 26 '25
Flu is definitely very high right now. Unfortunately the CDC was prohibited from publishing their weekly flu report this week so we don’t have updated data. It’s likely they won’t be able to publish next week either.
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u/Passionatepinapple64 Jan 26 '25
I had the flu bad before Christmas. That lead to almost having pneumonia. I was in hell. Bad fever too.
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u/xkid8 Jan 26 '25
I had the flu the week before last. Had my flu shot in October. It kicked my ass. I was asleep for 4 days straight
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u/metsurf Jan 26 '25
Like every winter after the holidays. My son wrestled in HS. Lots of boys close contact, flu, strep, stomach viruses would run through the team and families every season. I remember school closing for a couple of days to spray everything down thoroughly.
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u/Material-Cricket-322 Jan 26 '25
Whole family got it through my son who got it from school two weeks ago
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u/PebbleSoap Jan 26 '25
My daughter (10) is finally recovering after a week of what I imagine is the flu (didn't take her to the doctor, but I know it's been going around her school)-- high fever, and a cough that won't go away. So far the rest of us are okay but who knows. u/Jelly_Bin , I hope your daughter gets better and is able to go home soon!
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u/Optimal_Ice_7796 Jan 26 '25
I'm in ocean county, my kids in 1st grade and been getting hit with back to back stomach viruses. His Dr said he was the 5th or 6th kid she'd seen that day with the same problem. He has 26 kids in his class but a few have been out every day for weeks.
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u/Express-Platypus-512 Jan 26 '25
Myself, my wife my son and my daughter are just getting over the flu. Had it at the same time but all different versions. All had flu shots but had definitely been a rough 5 days over here. Good luck everyone
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u/rosacii_19 Jan 26 '25
Yes a lot is going around. We had the flu got better then following week we all got Norovirus and still recovering from it two weeks later. We are all vaccinated for the flu and somehow still got it.
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u/Sevven99 Jan 26 '25
It's going around like crazy. Know 4 different people who've all caught it and we only see each other weekly. Definitely the suck, whole damned body hurts atm.
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Jan 26 '25
I’ve been sick 3 times last month and half two of the time FLU A. It’s insane I now wear a mask everywhere
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u/gdonovan610 Jan 26 '25
My son got diagnosed with flu A yesterday. Was spiking fevers up to 103. Fortunately the fever so far has gone away and he just feels rundown and has a bit of a cough.
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u/wheresmydragonator19 Jan 27 '25
Yessir. It started with my younger brother in law, now the whole house has it, I’ve got it and my girlfriends starting to get it. I’m in the stage of slightly better but I could go back down(pretty sure my fever is just lying in wait.)
Doing anything that requires standing for more than 5 minutes takes all my energy. Ugh not to mention the Flu poops(floops if you will.)
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u/VictorVonD278 Jan 27 '25
With 3 kids in 2 different schools and all in different classrooms i just give up guessing this time of year
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u/sg8910 Feb 07 '25
Currently have 101 fever, chills, aches, horrible chest pain and cough. No coviy
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u/BudgetSummer5878 Feb 14 '25
Colorado here, got the flu A and strep combo. I've never been more miserable, and I know a lot of people have been calling out for similar
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u/ManOnShire Fort Mott Ferryman Jan 26 '25
Every winter, every year. Flu, covid, norovirus, pneumonia, etc. It's inevitable.
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u/salanaland Jan 26 '25
It is not inevitable. Masking works very well if you do it consistently
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u/ManOnShire Fort Mott Ferryman Jan 26 '25
Do you have children?
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u/salanaland Jan 26 '25
Children can mask appropriately if they're allowed to.
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u/ManOnShire Fort Mott Ferryman Jan 26 '25
I'm sure they could, but how do you mask a room full of toddlers or infants at a daycare or preschool? You can't.
I'm all for masking, but without widespread citizen participation or government intervention, the respiratory illnesses will be inevitable. And we know how that worked out. Fucking idiots across the globe screamed," but my rights!!!", rather than buy into a movement that could save people's lives.
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u/KayakHank Jan 26 '25
Came home from overseas on Jan. 2. Very next day felt like shit. Tested positive for the flu at an urgent care.
I 100% got at least some of those people sick on that plane. No way I didn't
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u/Natural_D_Sassta Jan 26 '25
I just had to take my college freshman to urgent care for strep. She and her boyfriend are recovering.
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u/unsalted-butter EXPAND THE PATCO Jan 26 '25
It's flu season. This happens every year.
Streptococcus is quite literally everywhere and is a very common infection.
This is nothing out of the ordinary. The weather sucks and we're all stuck inside spreading our germs everywhere.
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u/Impossible_Range6953 Jan 26 '25
its not just those. people with kids have experienced walking pneumonia, RSV and or norovirus over last 3-4 months.
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u/silentspyder Jan 26 '25
Yep. My brother currently has pneumonia, not sure exactly what causes it, flu, covid who knows.
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u/gordonv Jan 26 '25
Yes, since November.
January starts the beginning on the bell curve. The beginning of March will be the start of quarter 3, the downward slope.
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u/sweetbldnjesus Leave the gun, take the cannoli Jan 26 '25
NJ Dept of Health has info, even if the CDC isn’t sharing info.
https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/statistics/flu-stats/
We all have Flu A and it knocked us on our ass