WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – As the temperatures start to drop, your chance of getting sick starts to ramp up.
“As we enter the winter months, the air is cooler,” Novant Health Family and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Rand Pennington said. “It’s more dry which allows viruses to circulate more easily and then patients are also in close quarters together, which increases the risk for transmission and spread as well.”
Pennington said so far this season, he’s seen a spike in upper respiratory illnesses. In particular, he said there’s been a higher-than-usual number of pneumonia cases in children, not only in Southeastern North Carolina but nationwide.
“If you have a sick child, it’s best to keep them home,” Pennington said. “And if they have a fever and then, obviously, if they’re showing signs of not improving or worsening, they should be seen by a pediatrician or primary care provider.”
He said most of the other upper-respiratory illnesses among both children and adults have been “non-specific,” meaning there’s not a particular virus attached to the illness.
So far this season, he says flu and COVID numbers have stayed low. However, a trend Pennington calls “vaccine hesitancy” could make even a lower amount of COVID and flu cases more severe.
“Just because you get the flu vaccine or COVID vaccine does not mean that you will not get the disease, but it does increase your chance that you will survive from having the disease,” Pennington said. “We will still see the spread of the disease, but patients who are vaccinated will obviously do better hopefully than those who are not vaccinated, and we will see deaths from the flu and COVID in our high-risk patients.”
He says there are plenty of things you can do to prevent the spread of illnesses this holiday season. You can talk to your healthcare provider about the benefits and risks of getting vaccinated and also do little things like practicing good hygiene.
“Handwashing, keeping alcohol-based hand sanitizers on you,” Pennington said. “There is evidence that if you’re high risk masking is effective to prevent upper respiratory infections and decreases the spread.”
Pennington also says as tough as it may be, you should consider sitting out of certain holiday celebrations if you don’t feel well to protect others.
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