Patients are pouring into Hamot Medical Center's emergency department, complaining of coughs, sore throats, fevers, body aches and sinus headaches.

They don't have the flu, but that doesn't make them feel any less miserable.

"It's like a cold with an extra wallop," said Ferdinando Mirarchi, D.O., Hamot Medical Center's medical director of emergency medicine. "We're seeing varying intensity with this virus, but some cases are lasting 14 to 21 days."

Influenza might have taken a winter vacation, but there are plenty of other viral illnesses around to make you sick.

Local doctors are seeing a lot of colds, coughs and stomach viruses.

It's not unusual in winter, when people are inside most of the time and easily spread illnesses to each other.

"This is when we typically see viruses," Mirarchi said. "It's the whole gamut: preschoolers, school-age children, adults and the elderly."

Few, if any, of those viruses are influenza, however.

February is usually the height of flu season, but only two flu cases have been reported in Erie County since late December.

About 1,600 flu cases were reported to the Erie County Department of Health in October and November, when H1N1 -- commonly known as swine flu -- swept through the country.

Health officials thought another wave of flu would arrive during the traditional flu season of January through March.

But that is becoming less likely with each passing day.

"There are some intermittent reports of flu throughout the U.S., but nothing that tells us anything," said Rick Knecht, R.N., director of public-health preparedness for the Health Department.

There is still time for a flu outbreak this winter, Mirarchi said.

"This is when we usually start to see flu. We've had some late seasons in recent years," Mirarchi said. "I think we'll see another wave of influenza, though I don't know if it will be H1N1. It still could be seasonal flu."
