EAST LANSING, Mich. — Health officials say they're seeing an uptick in respiratory illnesses.
While a lot of people may think they have the flu, it could be something else.
"We're seeing people coming in with what we think are influenza-like symptoms which are usually body aches, fever, sore throat, cough," said Megan Hohl, a nurse practitioner at Sparrow Urgent Care and FastCare.
She says patients are stopping in around the clock with signs of the flu.
"Every shift that I work I have seen people coming in with symptoms that have last anywhere from first couple days they've had it, to people who have had it for two or three weeks," Holh said.
Specialists say the flu season is here and many other viral infections are also beginning to surface.
"This year for some reason we have seen influenza A and B earlier, " Hohl explained.
"We had a lot of people coming up and testing positive for influenza back in September."
Although some people may experience symptoms similar to influenza other infections can exhibit the same signs.
"Let's say that I'll see 30 patients in a day and I would say at least half if not a little more than half of those patients have flu symptoms," Hohl said.
"Now that being said they're not all testing positive for the flu. The other day I had one positive flu out of all the patients that I saw."
Experts say lab tests are the most accurate so it's important to see a professional for the proper diagnosis and treatment.
"Is it pneumonia because pneumonia can also give you fevers and chills and cough and make you feel bad," said Hohl.
"So that's why we tell people if you feel like you have those symptoms go and get checked out so that we can either confirm it or try to make you feel better."
Flu shots are recommended for ages six months and up.
According to the Michigan Health Department of Health and Human Services, the state is in the sporadic stage for influenza activity.
That means we're currently seeing small numbers of the infection.
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