Worker Illness On Rise, But It's Still Too Early For Flu

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Have you noticed some coworkers sneezing around you? We have - and we asked WBBM's Steve Miller to ask a doctor what's going around.

A cough. A sneeze. A headache.

Somebody calls in sick. And then another. And another. Isn't it too early for the flu?

Dr. Jennifer Earvolino of Rush University Medical Center says she isn't aware of any influenza yet this season.

But she's seen plenty of cold- or flu-like symptoms. Earaches, too.

"And I'm told, although I've not seen as much but some of my colleagues have seen G-I viral illnesses. Stomach aches and diarrhea and fever. And those are usually self-limited, over a couple of days."

She says a lot of things come with the change in temperature.

"You couple that with ... this has been a terrible allergy season, all summer and fall. So people tend to be drippier."

And she says adults should get a one-time booster shot against whooping-cough.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller Reports