Beaumont-Port Arthur remains a top 10 U.S. market for flu activity, according to national pharmacy company Walgreens.

Texas, home to nine of the top 10 designated local markets nationally for prescribing flu medications, ranked as the apparent top state for flu activity.

The Deerfield, Illinois-based company said its weekly, national report reflects Walgreens markets where retail prescription data for antiviral medications used to treat influenza suggests where flu is highest. Beaumont-Port Arthur ranked No. 5 nationally.

In an issued statement, Walgreens says the Flu Index provides valuable insight by showing which cities or metropolitan areas are experiencing the most incidences of influenza each week based on index methodology. The data does not measure actual levels or severity of flu activity, the company says.

The top 10 markets nationally for flu activity on Dec. 30 were: Tyler-Longview, which includes Lufkin and Nacagdoches; Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen; Waco-Temple-Bryan; Houston; Beaumont-Port Arthur; Corpus Christi; El Paso, including Las Cruces, New Mexico; San Antonio; Dallas-Fort Worth; and Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

That jibes with what doctors in the Golden Triangle are seeing, said Dr. Ali Osman, medical director for Neighbors Emergency Centers in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange.

“We definitely are treating a lot of flu,” Osman said Thursday. “Every freestanding ER, local hospital ER and every doctor’s hospital is treating the flu.”

He said sometimes doctors know when the walk into the room with patients that they have the flu. But he said a simple swab confirms the results.

States with the most flu activity according to the index were Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Tennessee, Arizona, Missouri and North Carolina.

Osman said people in the Golden Triangle likely get the flu shot at the same rate as patients elsewhere and he said it would still be helpful to get the flu shot if you haven’t had the shot yet. While flu season begins in October, he said, there is no telling when the peak of the season comes.

Walgreens, which operates about 8,100 stores nationally, serves about 8 million customers every day.