(MSNBC) Milliions of people like Arian Vink in Boston are hacking, aching and miserable. “This is painful. I had rib pains. I had muscle pains. I had back pain, and I just buckled over. I couldn’t walk,” Vink said. “It was just too bad; it’s a very, very, strong virus.”
 
Physicians have been having a difficult time keeping up with it all. “We’ve seen huge increases in the numbers of patients we are seeing, and seeing a lot of people even very young people who are very ill — high fever, vomiting, really sick,” said Dr. Ron Walls, who treated Vink Thursday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Some of them [are] even unable to walk or stand when they come in.” The situation is the same for the District of Columbia and Washington Hospital Center’s Dr. Mark Smith.

“This past weekend we actually had the highest number of patients in the history of this emergency department,” said Smith. “We had more than 200 patients three days in a row. We’ve never had that many before.”
 
A few hospitals have been overwhelmed and were forced to turn away patients — they’ve even turned away ambulances in cities like Buffalo. Others are stacking up the sick, who are waiting for treatment in hallways.