Swine Flu Prep Helps Hospitals Brace for Fire-Caused Respiratory Illnesses

Only the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center has reported a slight increase in patients, and that may be because of some very early cases of influenza, not because of the wildfires, Lott says.

"But we expect that they will start showing up this weekend. Two weeks from the time the fires began last week is when we'll start seeing a lot more."

Lott says that air quality in the Los Angeles basin has gone from bad to worse through the week. Outside his Glendale home, he says, "my car is covered with soot every morning. It's horrible."