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"An early spike in flu cases is affecting families across the Kansas City metro area during the holiday break.Dr. Michael Shafe, the medical director at the Urgency Room, told KMBC 9's Diane Cho that the facility has seen more than double its normal volume of patients this year, and at least half of those are flu cases.He said the staff has been so busy lately that it doesn't have time to test patients for the flu, even though it only takes 15 minutes for the results.\"We had so many patients, it was easier to just treat these people rather than test them all,\" he said.He said even though it seems like more people are getting sick this year, it may be because it's the first time the flu has hit during the holidays about a half-dozen years.\"If you look at the absolute numbers in the state, it's higher because it's happening earlier, but overall reported cases for the state is not that impressive as we're led to believe,\" Shafe said.About 30,000 people die every year from the flu and more than 200,000 people nationwide are sick enough to need hospital stays.\"We had no idea how dangerous the flu could be,\" said Julie Moise.Her 6-month-old son Ian died from the flu nine years ago. She said she still puts up his Christmas tree, leaving the gifts he never had a chance to open.\"You go through each day, but not a day goes by, and this time of year is really tough because we lost him on Dec. 17, so this time of year is really difficult for us,\" Moise said. \"We have a hole in our heart that will never go away. You learn to have a new normal.\"She said she hopes anyone who listens to her story will think twice before assuming it can't happen to them.\"Take it serious. We thought, 'It was just the flu.' We had no idea it kills healthy children. Unfortunately, we've met a lot of families who lost healthy children. I have a friend who lost a 15-year-old and another lady who was 35 years old. It doesn't discriminate. It can kill anyone,\" she said."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.kmbc.com/article/flood-of-flu-cases-keep-kc-area-doctors-busy/3673623>