A large number of flu cases at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Ind., caused the hospital to cancel elective surgeries Tuesday, because the hospital didn't want to expose post-operative patients to influenza, according to a report by The Star Press.
The sheer number of patients coming in with flu-like symptoms and the flu has caused capacity problems at the hospital. Usually, post-operative patients who need an overnight stay recover on the sixth floor of the hospital's north tower, but that space is currently being used for flu patients.
"We don't want to put flu-like symptom patients on the same floor with somebody who came in for elective surgery," Jeffrey Bird, MD, the hospital's CMO, told The Star Press.
This is the first time the flu has stopped elective surgeries at the hospital.
Dr. Bird also noted that along with the jump in the number of flu patients coming to Ball Memorial, the patients seemed to be sicker than usual. "The acuity of their illness has been greater during this stretch of time than when we usually get the respiratory illness bug going around," he told The Star Press. "This seems to be a very virulent flu."
The CDC did predict that this flu season will be more intense than others, as the predominate strain of influenza this season is tied to more severe illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths than other flu strains. The fact that this year's flu vaccine is less effective than usual compounds the issue.