'We Don't have a flu season:' Texas Televangelist

FORT WORTH, TX — It's not flu season. At least that's what Gloria Copeland, a Fort Worth televangelist and spiritual advisor to President Trump, said on Jan. 31 in a Facebook video.

Gloria Copeland is married to Kenneth Copeland, founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries. According to the video, she believes that "inoculating [oneself] with the word of God" is far more effective than a flu shot.

She went on, however, to say a prayer for anyone who already had the flu.

"Father, I pray for every person that has symptoms of flu," she said in the video. "I'm asking you, lord, by your supernatural power to heal them now from the top of their head to the soles of their feet. Flu, I bind you off of the people in the name of Jesus."

The video has effectively gone viral, grossing some 171,000 views as of Wednesday. It's also garnered some 3,600 shares on Facebook.

Brian Herndon, a 51-year-old Fort Worth resident, recently lost both of his feet and nine of his fingers to complications of the flu virus.

His wife, Jaye, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram the family's faith helped the healing process, but that the flu is a medical condition that should be taken seriously.

"Doctors were at a loss for a cause [in Brian's case]," she told the Star Telegram. "At those times, the only healer was God. We've talked about how God has been faithful and has some plans for Brian."

In an equally frightening instance, Julie Shelley, of Arlington, spent 16 days in a coma in 2014 after complications of H1N1. She told WFAA praying isn't the only solution when it comes to cases of the flu.

“I had a lot of prayer warriors when I was in the hospital,” Shelley told the station. “Go ahead and pray of course, but you need to be proactive.”

She told the station she is afraid Copeland's message could prevent sick people from seeking treatment.

While Copeland stopped short of advocating against medical treatment, she made clear that "Jesus himself is our flu shot. He redeemed us from the curse of flu."

To date, 54 lives in Dallas county have been claimed by the virus. The death toll in Collin County has risen to 10; Tarrant County, 8; and Denton County, 5. More recently, the flu took the life of a 38-year-old Tarrant County teacher.

File photo illustration: syringe filled with influenza vaccination is seen at a Walgreens Pharmacy on January 14, 2014 in Concord, California. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)