TAMPA, Fla. — There's nothing worse than getting sick around the holidays.
“There was a Christmas gathering, and you go, and someone comes, and maybe they think they're better, and they're not,” said Hanna Hodges.
Hodges knows the pain of feeling under the weather.
“Unfortunately, I caught the bug going around, but it was fast and furious,” she said.
Doctors hope people spread joy, not sickness, this holiday season, especially as they see an increase in flu numbers.
Dr. Timothy Hendrix, the Medical Director with AdventHealth Centra Care, said since Thanksgiving, they've had a doubling in the number of patients coming into their Centra Care urgent cares with flu.
"You want to identify it if you have symptoms of the flu so you can get on an anti-viral within the first 48 hours,” said Hendrix.
Some flu symptoms to watch for are fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, and fatigue.
ABC Action News asked Dr. Hendrix, as a doctor, if he was traveling and getting together with people for the holidays, what he would do to make sure that he was staying as healthy as possible.
“I'd get plenty of sleep,” he said. “We forget the importance of rest. When people travel, they get fatigued, and that's when they get sick, and we know that fatigue and lack of sleep is a contributing factor to people getting these upper respiratory viruses, including the flu."
Dr. Hendrix also reminded us that the handy masks worn during the pandemic are effective in preventing transmission.
People around Tampa also weighed in on steps they take to avoid getting sick.
"Let me take my vitamins, and as silly as it sounds, just Emergen-C. I drink hot water and lemon,” said Hodges.
"I usually try to stay well-hydrated, make sure I'm very avid about hand washing, and if I hear someone coughing, I kinda try to stay away,” said Cassandra King-Bauer.
It also goes without saying: if you're sick, stay home.
If you haven't already, doctors recommend you go ahead and get your flu shot.
A Hardee County grandmother is on trial this week for leaving her 7-month-old granddaughter in a hot car where the baby died —the second grandchild to die under Tracey Nix's care. ABC Action News I-Team Reporter Kylie McGivern sat down with Kaila Nix just days ahead of her mother's trial for aggravated manslaughter.
