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With Thanksgiving and the winter holidays just around the corner, travelers are preparing for busy airports and hectic trips to see family and friends. But the coronavirus threat that kept many at home for the past two holiday seasons hasn’t gone away, joined by more respiratory illnesses like the flu and respiratory syncytial virus that are sending people to the hospital this year.
“Covid is still floating, RSV is floating, influenza is rising,” said Abinash Virk, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. “All three, particularly in frail or immunocompromised people, are really unpleasant.”
Michelle Barron, senior medical director for infection prevention at UC Health in Colorado, said this time of year also often brings outbreaks of norovirus.
“People have been talking about ‘tripledemia,’” referring to covid, flu and RSV, a common virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. “I say no, this is just gross season,” she said. he said she.
Unlike last holiday season, masks are no longer required on airplanes or other forms of transportation. But travelers may still want to take extra precautions to avoid bringing germs on their trip, especially if they plan to see grandparents, newborn babies, or other at-risk friends and family. Health experts say people should take precautions to protect the most vulnerable people they plan to spend time with.
“At the end of the day, people want to have fun, people want to get together and they want to travel and they should,” Barron said. “But you don’t want to get sick on your vacation.”
Stay up to date with vaccinations
The new omicron-specific boosters are available for people 5 years and older, and children 6 months and older can receive their main course of the vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people age 5 and older receive an updated booster if it has been at least two months since the last dose of the vaccine.
Flu shots are available for people 6 months and older.
“If people haven’t gotten a flu shot, now is the time to get vaccinated,” said Kris Bryant, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.
There is not yet a vaccine available to prevent RSV, which can be particularly serious in young children, older adults, and people who are immunocompromised.
Be careful before a trip
Virk said he has told members of his own family to start being cautious a week before visiting grandparents. That means avoiding potentially risky behaviors like eating indoors at restaurants, unmasking in crowded indoor spaces, or gathering with large groups of people indoors.
Barron said a week is “probably very, very cautious.”
“Most of the things that worry you, especially right now, about three days is when you’re going to get hit,” he said.
You no longer have to legally wear a mask in most places. But, experts say, it’s still a good idea, especially if you’re trying to avoid getting sick and spreading the disease to others.
Bryant acknowledged that masking is now more of an option than a mandate; it is a decision she made when she visited her newborn grandson after having been working and attending a meeting.
“If people enter crowded environments where they don’t always have the option to move away from someone who is coughing, they may choose to wear a mask to protect themselves and other members of their family who may be vulnerable.” she said.
Virk said he would “definitely” wear a mask if he couldn’t break away from crowds.
The types of high-quality masks that are recommended to protect against the coronavirus, such as an N95 or KN95, “will also protect against influenza and RSV,” said Jessica Tuan, an infectious disease physician at Yale Medicine.
“If you wear a mask, don’t feel uncomfortable being the only one doing it,” he said.
Wash and wash and wash your hands
You probably honed your handwashing routine in the early days of the pandemic, and then perhaps let it slide after the CDC said the coronavirus spreads mostly in small particles or droplets from person-to-person.
But good hand hygiene remains important, especially when multiple viruses are circulating, experts said. As a reminder, the wash should last “at least 20 seconds,” Tuan said.
“Handwashing is very important and I know we’ve heard a lot about that during the pandemic,” said Bryant, who also said people should be careful to wash their hands before holding a baby. “But RSV is in nasal secretions. If those nasal secretions make it to a surface, they can live there. They can spread that way.”
The CDC says that RSV can survive “for many hours” on hard surfaces and for shorter periods of time on soft surfaces, including hands.
Even beyond the season’s high-profile triple threat, Barron said handwashing should be a priority to protect against “dirt and other things that are easily contagious.”
“It’s a great way to convey all sorts of things and it’s really gross if you really think about everything that touches the seats and door handles and doorknobs,” he said.
Test (more than once) before collecting
Virk recommends getting tested for the coronavirus three days before traveling and on the day of travel as a precaution. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends repeat or serial testing with home antigen tests “to reduce the risk of missed infection” with a false-negative result.
Barron cautions that while repeat testing may improve the sensitivity of home tests, they are still not foolproof.
“No test is 100 percent,” he said.
As a general rule, if someone has any symptoms, they should get tested, Virk said.
The CDC says people should stay home for at least five days and isolate if they test positive for coronavirus. With no or improving symptoms, isolation may end after Day 5. People with moderate or worse illness should isolate until Day 10.
People who test positive must wear a mask until the 10th, the agency says. And until the 11th, they should avoid being around people who are more susceptible to serious illness from the virus.
While there’s no rapid home test for the flu or RSV, experts say it’s good to know what you’re up against if you’re sick.
“Particularly if someone is immunocompromised and they know it’s influenza or they know it’s covid, there are treatments,” Virk said.
Bryant said it might have been common before the pandemic for someone with mild cold symptoms to show up at a gathering and make everyone sick.
“We have learned not to do that,” he said. “People who get sick, even with mild cold symptoms, should stay home and keep away from babies.”
Tuan said travelers might want to reconsider visiting family members who are moderately to severely immunocompromised, or very young children who may not yet have strong immune systems.
“If you have a compromised immune system, travel when necessary,” he said.
Barron agreed that someone who isn’t feeling well should avoid gatherings. If that’s not an option, they should wear a mask, stay away from other people, or be active outside.
“Be responsible that if you get sick, you have that Plan B,” he said.
Source: news.google.com