Health officials in the Stateline are saying they’ve seen a major increase in the number of people coming down with the flu.
Winnebago County alone is reporting over 130 new cases for the first week in February, that’s almost 100 more than the same time last month.
“In the last few weeks, especially here in Illinois, and across the country, we’ve seen more cases of actual influenza,” said Dr. Sarah Kent with the Swedish American Medical Group.
Symptoms of the flu include, fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffed nose, and muscle aches, symptoms that can be commonly mistaken for a cold.
“If your symptoms are more severe, in terms of fever for more than a couple days, chest pain, severe shortness of breath, dehydration, then defiantly going to see your physician is the next step,” said Dr. Kent.
Protecting against the spread of germs is nothing new for operators at the Discovery Center Museum.
“We do a variety of things, some of them include some simple things like making sure each say that the door knobs, the elevator buttons, the hand railing, are all sanitized,” said Discovery Center spokesperson Ann Marie Walker.
Good news for Joanna Dowling, who says the extra attention to cleanliness goes a long way.
“It makes me feel more confident and more comfortable, I’m still not going to let my daughter put this in her mouth if I can avoid it, but I would feel better knowing that their conscious of it as well,” said Dowling.
To reduce the spread of the flu, medical officials say it’s important to practice the three C’s. be clean and frequently wash your hands, cover your cough or sneeze, and contain. if you think you’re sick, stay home so you don’t spread the germs to someone else.