HOUSTON -- Doctors at Texas Children's Hospital say they've seen another rise in the number of swine flu cases they've had to handle, and they're warning the public that the H1N1 virus has not gone away.
They've had one swine-flu-related death this month, and a 3-month-old child is currently being treated in the intensive-care unit because of the virus.
"What it means for our community is that H1N1 is back in Houston and there's plenty vaccine and you need to be vaccinated to protect yourself against this," said Dr. Carol Baker of Texas Children's Hospital.
Billy Cary, 13, caught the swine flu virus last year before the vaccine was available. Now he takes powerful antibiotics, as he continues to recover from the virus.
"It happened so quickly, one day he was perfectly fine, then the next day my son is the sickest kid at Texas Children’s Hospital," his mother said.
Billy stayed in the hospital from September to November of last year, but even now, it’s a struggle, he said.
"I still have compromised lungs, and I still cough a lot and my toes are necrotic, which I'm getting them fixed this Thursday,” he said. “I'm weaker and a little bit paler than I used to be."
