LOUISIANA (KLFY) -- Louisiana currently has the highest number of respiratory virus cases in the country.

News 10 reached out to multiple medical professionals to see how and why the numbers are what they are and the ways people can stop it from spreading.

Regional Medical Director Tina Stefanski said it is "pretty typical" that the southern United States is starting to see higher rates of flu.

Being a seasonal virus, cases begin in August and September and eventually spike in the colder months.

Nicole Lavergne is a nurse practitioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Women’s & Children’s Hospital in Lafayette. She talked about how Louisiana's numbers compare to the national average.

"Positivity rates nationally are approximately five 5.1%, but in Louisiana, it's 10.8%, which is more than double the national average. As far as ED visits percentage-wise, the national average is 3.4%. In Louisiana, it's 5.1%," she said.

Other respiratory virus cases are rising in Louisiana as well.

"RSV is another one that [is] circulating a good bit along with the flu. And then like rhinovirus and some of the other ones that normally circulate for colds," Lavergne said.

Pharmacist Leslie Sparks said a low number of vaccinations can be a cause for the increase in numbers.

"I think the previous year covid was still top of mind. This year they've been a whole lot more lax. A majority of the patients that we're filling prescriptions for have not been vaccinated at all," Sparks said.

Stefanski said the most effective way to prevent the spread is to get the vaccine and be mindful of your health.

"Know how to protect yourself and really, if you're not feeling well, consider everybody around you and try to do everything that you can to prevent spread and whatever it is that you have to other people," Sparks said.

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