With influenza cases obviously on the increase, it is important for people to limit hospital visits as much as possible.

In Cumberland, the Western Maryland Health System is asking anyone age 18 and under not visit patients at the Memorial and Braddock hospitals. It is making the same request for its Frostburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Frostburg.

No visitors under the age of 12 are permitted for the Perinatal Unit, including siblings of newborn infants. All other visitors to the unit will be screened for flu-like symptoms and anyone exhibiting signs or symptoms will be turned away.

In Garrett County, the Memorial Hospital in Oakland has also implemented preventative measures. Visits are being limited to only two visitors per patient at a time, and those visitors may be asked to wear a mask. Visitors under age 12 years will not be permitted in the hospital.

The local hospitals’ announcements come on the heels of an alert issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The centers are encouraging people who are only mildly ill to avoid going to emergency rooms. If you are concerned about flu-like illness, call your family physician or health care provider for advice and treatment.

That is good advice, if for no other reason than the long waits emergency rooms are experiencing because of the number of people showing up with flu symptoms. Emergency department triage staffs routinely screen patients to make sure the most severely ill are treated first. If you have only mild symptoms, the wait for treatment could be a long one.

More information about the flu outbreak is available by visiting the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Website at www.cdc.gov.