United States: No one would want a blu Christmas; however, a flu Christmas could bring much worse time than imagined, alert experts.
Generally, it is said that cold, flu and other respiratory diseases are more prevalent in winter.
Cold flu viruses can exist in cold and dry air, and people stay indoors most of the time, especially during frozen months, thus providing viruses with a better chance of spreading.
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Although respiratory illness season in the US has started weak this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emergency room visits for Covid, flu, and RSV are on the rise.
However, it is always possible to catch two respiratory viruses and COVID-19, but they “don’t get along very well together,” and upon contracting one of them, it can block or limit infection of another virus. That’s called viral inference, the New York Post reported.
What is quad-demic?
Here is a “quad-demic” – four significant viruses that may quash your holiday celebrations or at least dampen them, as the Brits might say, and put a load on the already strained, post-COVID healthcare systems.
Flu season mainly occurs between October and April or May. However, there has been a more recent rise in cases, especially among the elderly visiting the emergency department and the outpatient clinic with confirmed influenza infection, according to the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Outpatient visits for flulike illness were slightly higher last week only in California, Oregon, Arizona, Louisiana, New Jersey and District of Columbia, according to CIDRAP.
Influenza A type has been most frequently responsible – seasonal flu is usually due to the A or B strain, the New York Post reported.
Flu symptoms are fever, chills, sore throat and a dry cough, headache, muscle aches, runny or stuffy nose and tiredness caused by influenza A. Flu appears to cause more severe effects than cold.
According to the American Heart Association the flu vaccine should be administered to anybody above the age of 6 months, avoid close contact with people who have flu like symptoms, wash your hands often, don’t touch your face and get a medical checkup as soon as you suspect you have flu so that you can start with the flu treatment.