The flu is considered "widespread" in the state this season, according to the Connecticut Department of Health.
There are confirmed cases in all eight counties and flu-related emergency room visits continue to increase.
"At the moment, we are asking visitors to refrain from visiting if they have any of the common signs or symptoms of influenza," Waterbury Hospital spokesperson Patty Charvat said in a statement to NBC Connecticut. "These include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, vomiting, stuffy nose, body aches, diarrhea. We have not yet restricted visitation, but may in the future based on the assessment of our infectious disease/infection prevention team."
"The flu is wicked this year," Suzanne Reilly from Middlebury said. "Very, very bad."
Reilly would know because right now she’s fighting the flu after her son had it.
"Sinus pressure, headache, body aches, you name it I’ve got it," she said outside a Waterbury CVS. "I just actually went in there to go get more Advil and Sudafed for pain, for my head."
Brittany Sauers stopped by the CVS Minute Clinic for a check-up on Thursday.
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"Everyone in my family actually is really sick," Sauers said. "We all have this nose thing going on and we all have the cough and like the headache and everything, so we’re all really just like hoping that it’s not the flu."
As an occupational therapist, Sauers said she can understand the Waterbury Hospital’s reasoning for asking people with flu symptoms to refrain from visiting patients.
"I used to do a clinical round actually down in Florida and there was a huge flu outbreak," Sauers said. "I was there and you’re scared just as much being in the healthcare field."
A week after her diagnosis, Reilly said she is feeling a little bit better, but she is still bothered by head congestion.
"I did not get the flu shot," Reilly said, adding she regrets that decision and plans to get one next year.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) strongly recommends that everyone gets the flu shot and it is still not too late for the current season that runs into may. It takes about two weeks for the antibodies to build up, so the sooner the better.
