It may not feel like May, but spring has officially arrived in metro Detroit. That seasonal transition is good news in the fight against the flu.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said there were 26 million illnesses, 290,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 deaths from the flu this season.
In Michigan, cases of the flu have fallen each week for the last five weeks. With the flu on the way out, we're checking out what else is bugging metro Detroit.
At Taylor Street Primary Care, Clinic Chief Nursing Officer Dr. Toni Grant says they can take care of the entire family from seniors to babies. The clinic, located in Detroit's Virginia Park neighborhood, has its own in-house lab.
"We do have some point-of-care testing that we can do right on the spot, and especially during this time of the year," Grant said.
While cold, flu and CVODI1-9 cases are going down, season allergies are on the rise.
"The trees started blooming and the flowers came out and people started sneezing and coughing and eyes itching. Those are seasonal allergies," Grant said.
Grant says those allergies can affect the entire family, including little ones who may not be about to tell you what they are feeling in words, but their actions can say a lot.
At Central City Integrated Health, they're also seeing a lot of respiratory issues.
"You know, asthma, allergies, upper respiratory infections and common cold," Dr. David Wash said.
That includes COVID-19. Wash also said as the weather warms up and more of us are outside, he sees an increase of ailments associated with pest bites.
"Going on into the late spring, into the summer, especially for those individuals who are mostly outdoors, we start to see tick, you know, tick-borne diseases," he said.
One of those is Lyme Disease. Symptoms can include fever, headache, fatigue and a bulls-eye rash. Quick antibiotic treatment is key to limiting lasting effects.
Dr. Tiffeny Widner, a general pediatrician for DMC Children's Hospital, said she's seeing a lot of runny noses from infections and from allergies.
"All of my allergy children are flaring right now," she said.
She said she's also busy with kids who are healthy and active, giving physicals for kids getting ready for sports.
Widner highlighted the importance of those sports physicals in catching underlying and undiscovered heart disease.
"A lot of our parents are afraid and frightened. They're worried because of these issues that we've had recently within our community," she said.
Widner also says she's seeing kids come in with mental and emotional health needs and more kids coming in for treatment of ADHD.
She says that tends to happen around the time progress reports come out, and parents and teachers for trying to solve problems related to focus in the classroom.
