What's Going Around: Strep Throat, Stomach Flu, Flu

It's time to see What's Going Around.

Dr. Billy Beets with the Muscogee Creek Nation Department of Health says, Strep Throat, has hit Okemah.

Strep throat is highly contagious and remains contagious for 24 hours after antibiotic treatment is started.

Symptoms include: a sore throat, enlarged tonsils with white patches, swollen lymph nodes, a fever greater than 102.5, chills, and a headache.

Dr. Beets says you will need to get emergency treatment if you have difficulty breathing or an extremely high fever.

Dr. Kathryn Zackery at the Sapulpa Indian Health Center is seeing gastroenteritis, also known as the stomach flu.

The stomach flu is not the flu, although the symptoms can be similar, and include nausea, vomiting diarrhea, fever, chills, stomach cramps.

Gastroenteritis usually lasts a week.

The flu on the other hand can last two to three weeks and starts forcefully with symptoms of extreme fatigue, a fever, and respiratory congestion such as coughing.

Speaking of the flu it has hit the Okmulgee Express Clinic

Nurse Practitioner Kim Hicks Jenkins, says other symptoms of the flu include runny or stuffy nose, chills, body aches, and you may have nausea, vomiting, and or diarrhea, although that is more common with children.

Over the counter medications may relieve some flu symptoms, but it will not make you less contagious.

If you have the flu stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone.

If you have not gotten your flu shot, it's not too late.

Peak season for the flu is February.