The holiday season brings families together but, with travel and cold weather, the holiday season also brings unwanted illnesses and viruses; some of which are spiking earlier than expected, according to experts.
EUGENE, Ore. – The holiday season brings families together but, with travel and cold weather, the holiday season also brings unwanted illnesses and viruses; some of which are spiking earlier than expected, according to experts.
“We’re starting to see a spike of a few different agents,” Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Senior Public Health Officer for Lane County, said. “RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), is just starting to increase and the recommendation went out for those infants that get severe disease from RSV to now get their vaccine.”
According to the Oregon Health Authority there have been 13 confirmed cases of RSV in the state. While Lane County is seeing an increase in RSV, the usual winter time illnesses are starting to be seen as well.
“We’re starting to see some Influenza A circulating, a little bit of COVID, but not a lot of COVID,” Luedtke said.
But Luedtke explained that some of the viruses going around may not show up on a COVID-19 or flu test.
“There’s a lot of different viruses that cause the common cold,” Luedtke said. “A challenge is that they’re not reportable diseases. They’re so common.”
Even though some tests aren’t catching what exactly families are catching, they are still having to deal with the symptoms and effects of the illness they’re experiencing.
“It’s been headache, cough, congestion, almost to the point where you can’t think brain fog and extreme lethargy and a fever. My daughter’s been running a fever for about four days now,” Jessica Wheeless said.
Wheeless said her whole family excluding her husband are battling an illness and are doing their best to fight it off.
“Just the typical things that the doctor tells you, warm-tepid baths, doing steam showers, so you can loosen up that congestion,” Wheeless said. “Every once in a while, I’ll give [my daughter] a Tylenol because I do want the fever to kind of fight off this virus.”
Luedtke said a possible reason why a virus or respiratory infection may not show up on a test is because laboratories test for illnesses they can treat. Some viruses such as adenovirus or for rhinovirus don’t have antivirals.
While another reason for why an illness may not be diagnosed when going into the doctor is the type of test being administered, as some panels don’t test for the full range of viruses and bacteria.
But the ones that do test the full range can cost upwards of $1,000 and are really only used when someone is seriously ill.
“A broader respiratory panel [tests] 20, 22, 24 agents, different viruses, bacteria on that panel,” Luedtke said. “So some people, especially if they’re really sick and they end up in the hospital, we need to know what’s causing it. They will be tested with that bigger panel that has a whole bunch of different agents on it.”
And as more people travel for the holidays, illnesses start to spread.
“Other viruses, they maybe don’t care so much about the outside temperature, but they care or they respond and spread when people are all indoors because it’s cold outside and we’re all breathing the same air,” Luedtke said.
Especially when it’s cold.
“The influenza virus, for whatever reason, really likes colder weather, just in and of itself,” Luedtke said.
So it is important to take proper precautions.
PeaceHealth officials provided some disease prevention tips:
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Practice good handwashing
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Avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes
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Cover your mouth with your elbow if you cough or sneeze
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If you or a loved one has symptoms of a respiratory illness, or doesn’t feel well enough to be at work or school, please stay home
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Even once respiratory symptoms are resolving, please wear a mask around others
Luedtke also recommends for people to get vaccinated to get ahead of any potential illnesses.
“It typically takes about two weeks for most people after the vaccine before you have protective immunity,” Luedtke said. “So now’s the time to get your flu vaccine if you haven’t already done so. Now’s the time to get your COVID vaccine if you haven’t already done so.”