AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Doctors around the Panhandle are seeing an increase of patients with flu or norovirus symptoms.
"The H influenza is an upper-respiratory infection. High fever, 101 or 102, sometimes higher. Clear drainage from your nose, a cough. And you just ache all over," says Dr. Cindy Huston. Norovirus, commonly mistaken as the stomach flu, is hitting the U.S. in large numbers.
The strong strain, also known as the "Super Bug", has made its way from Australia.
"Norovirus is a gastrointestinal virus. Symptoms include fever nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. They can be quite severe, can last hours, can last days," says nurse practitioner Amy Brasher.
Local medical professionals are urging everyone to take precautionary measure to avoid spreading germs around the home and office. Brasher encourages residents to wipe down counters, doorknobs, phones, keyboards, calculators, or anything that's touched frequently.
If an illness is contracted, Dr. Hutson suggests the following: "Keep them quarantined to the room that they're in. Maybe pick a bathroom that they're gonna use and everybody else stay out of it".
