Illnesses are on the rise – Tips to stay healthy
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — It’s that time of the year for sickness in the air.
Ashley Deverell is the Infectious Disease Director for the North Georgia Health District. She says, “It means that virus are definitely circling in our area. You see that a lot of time when kids are in school or they are doing activities or gatherings. For instance people will be having Super Bowl parties. A lot of people will be getting together and it is very typical for this time of the year to see these numbers. I would say year to year this is typically when you see the highest cases of Flu A.”
Two illnesses are rearing their head this February.
Deverell says, “I would say Covid-19 and Influenza A are our two biggest spreaders right now. I was looking at some data from CDC and it looks like we are in high to very high transmission for Influenza A and high transmission for Covid-19.”
These illnesses are impacting schools but why?
“It is a couple of things. Number one it is definitely the numbers and large gatherings. You got to think about the stuff that prevents illness, and that’s hand hygiene and staying home when your sick, plus vaccinations. When you have younger children they are prone to not having good hand hygiene and other things. Also not thinking about transmissions of respiratory illness,” says Deverell.
Even if you have gotten your flu vaccine this year, that doesn’t mean you can’t get the flu.
Deverell says, “The thing about vaccines sometimes is you may get the vaccine and still come down with the flu or Covid. You should definitely have a lesser case. The instance with those vaccines is that it depends on what strand is circulating and what the variances are.”
A good way to stay healthy is to monitor changes in your health.
“I think a lot of times people don’t really thing about their health. They think it is just a cough or a runny nose. Really emphasizing trying to stay home if you are sick especially if you are feverish. That is a huge issue.”
If you do catch something, Deverell says you can take some over the counter medicine but the best way is to stay home and let the sickness run its course.
