Detroit Medical Center announces visitor restrictions for Flu Season

DMC announces tougher visitor restrictions for Flu Season

The guidelines will go into effect on Monday. Doctors shared a few hours ago that it's an early flu season.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Doctors at the Detroit Medical Center are sounding the alarm after noticing an uptick in flu cases. As a result, they are limiting who can enter their facilities.

Big picture view:

The guidelines will go into effect on Monday. Doctors shared with FOX 2 that it's an early flu season. 

The Detroit Medical Center and Children's Hospital of Michigan state:

• All patients are limited to two visitors at any one time.
• Visitors under 12 years old, including siblings and relatives, are not allowed on inpatient floors and observation units.
• Visitors 13 years old and older who are experiencing a fever, cough, or rash will be asked to choose another time to visit.

What they're saying:

DMC doctors say they are implementing these guidelines to protect their patients, noting that over the last three to four weeks, case positivity rates have increased from 2% to 20% last week.

"We're seeing more influenza A, and H3N2 is the circulating strain in the Southern Hemisphere and also what we've seen in the UK, where the rates were very, very high this year. The assumption is that's what we are seeing also," said Dr. Teena Chopra, Medical Director of Infection Prevention at DMC and Children's Hospital.

"We're seeing patients with respiratory symptoms. Some are requiring hospitalization. Sometimes, though, we can treat them with antiviral medication and get them under control," said Dr. Rudolph Valenti, Chief Medical Officer at Children's Hospital in Michigan. "I don't believe we've seen significant morbidity beyond what we typically see. Last year was a bad flu year in terms of morbidity, meaning how sick the children were who contracted influenza. This year, it's a little bit too early to tell."