DOTHAN, Ala. – This fall and winter could be challenging for area hospitals.
They are continuing to see COVID-19 cases, and the flu season is also right around the corner.
“Thankfully, we have not seen any cases,” R.N. Infection Preventionist Lynn Grimes of Southeast Health said.
Grimes says when mask wearing became mandatory at the tail end of last flu season due to the coronavirus pandemic, that led to a decrease in influenza numbers.
“Hopefully this year, we’ll see less with the provisions already in place for COVID,” Grimes said. “We’re washing our hands good, and we’re wearing masks and with the flu, we wanna make sure that we’re vaccinated.”
The coronavirus and influenza are similiar. Both are respiratory illnesses. People can be asymptomatic and have no issues.
“They transmit the same from droplets from a cough, sneezing, and someone talking,” Grimes said.
But there are some differences.
“With COVID, you can be after exposure one to five days,” Grimes said. “You may not have any symptoms and then pop up five days, and even up to 14 days, you can have those same symptoms. So that’s a time frame, as opposed to influenza is a lot shorter. After exposure, you may get sick within 1 to 3 days but then you still are contagious after up to 7 days.”
Grimes says coronavirus patients are known to have lost their sense of taste and smell, but that hasn’t been seen in flu patients.
While preventions like hand washing, wearing face coverings, and social distancing help could limit exposure to either virus, Grimes recommends one important flu prevention.
“The best prevention against the flu would the flu vaccine. Now its not 100% but if you do contract the flu, your symptoms are a lot less. So we really encourage that,” Grimes said.
Ultimately, determining which virus you have comes down to testing. Local health care providers and pharmacies are already offering flu vaccinations.
