Dr. Alan Gatz discusses ways to avoid the flu while attending parades

Carnival season coincides with a less exciting occasion, the peak of flu season.

"The flu season this year is quite severe," Dr. Alan Gatz, Primary Care Physician with University Medical Center, said.

According to the Center for Disease Control, this year's flu outbreak is responsible for at least 53 child deaths.

Dr. Gatz says everyone in close proximity to one another at carnival raises your chances of catching the illness.

"Any sorts of bodily fluid, such as mucus from sneezing and coughing and people handling the beads that are thrown and whatever else that they give to the crowd will transmit that virus to other people," Dr. Gatz said.

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