By Zach Jensen,
Local medical professionals agree handwashing is one of the most important ways to combat viruses. (Photo by Zach Jensen)
It’s respiratory illness season again, and area medical professionals are reminding the public to take precautions to reduce the spread of potentially lethal viruses.
WinnMed’s Dr. Andy Goodner said the local hospital has seen increased cases of respiratory syncytial virus — or RSV — and influenza in recent weeks.
RSV often spreads during winter
“RSV has been rampant,” Goodner said. “It cycles every winter, and everybody can get RSV. In older kids and adults, it’s mostly a cold, but babies have small airways, so they get into trouble with it with low oxygen. When they can’t breathe well, they also don’t eat well, because it takes a lot of work to eat from breast or bottle. So, they can get dehydrated, they get low on oxygen, and we need to hospitalize them.”
RSV is a common respiratory virus that infects the nose, throat and lungs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
“RSV symptoms make it difficult to distinguish it from the common cold or other respiratory viruses, like the flu or COVID-19,” the CDC says.
Goodner said that, at one point this season, as many as five infants were locally hospitalized with RSV at once, and treatment options are limited.
“There’s no great treatment for it, because it’s a virus,” said Goodner. “There’s no fix. You have to wait it out, so we often have to give infants oxygen and/or fluids while they’re recovering. Older adults can also get RSV, and it can be serious in them as well.”
The good news, the family doctor said, is that an RSV vaccine was approved for public use in 2023. The vaccine is specifically intended to help lower the chance of contracting RSV occurring in babies, pregnant women and older adults.
“Older Americans, babies in their first year and pregnant women at 32 and 34 weeks should be vaccinated for RSV,” Goodner said. “RSV
hospitalizations are expensive, and they’re very stressful when your baby can’t breathe. They’re scary. It might be preventable for a lot of people.”
Goodner called RSV and other respiratory viruses, like COVID-19 “social infections,” which he explained means they’re contracted from other nearby people.
“The more you’re in close contact with other people, the more likely you are to get influenza, COVID, RSV, metapneumovirus, rhinovirus,” the doctor said.
Handwashing key to preventing spread of norovirus
Winneshiek County Public Health Administrator Krista Vanden Brink said norovirus is also spreading quickly throughout Iowa. Norovirus is considered “very contagious,” according to the CDC, and often causes vomiting and diarrhea for up to three days, which lead to dehydration.
“That is a GI bug, and it’s really important that people stay home if they have norovirus, because we don’t want them spreading the disease,” Vanden Brink said. “Norovirus is extremely contagious.”
Vanden Brink said, if somebody who has norovirus neglects to wash their hands well after using the toilet, anything they touch afterward will likely infect others who touch the same object.
“It spreads like wildfire, so it’s super important that we wash our hands with soap and water,” she said. “Alcohol hand sanitizers are not effective against norovirus. Soap and water — wash your hands after you use the toilet, before you prepare food, before you eat — all of that is super important.”
Norovirus can stay in a person’s stool for up to two weeks, Vanden Brink said, adding people can be “shedding” the virus that entire time even if they don’t have symptoms. Public Health recommends people wait 24 hours after their norovirus symptoms cease before returning to work, but food service workers should wait 48 hours.
“We tell people that when you have diarrhea when you’re sick, we don’t want you to prepare any food for other people or take care of other people,” she said. “And, we understand that’s a huge issue for restaurant workers. We see norovirus outbreaks throughout the year and in a variety of settings. They can be in schools, long-term care facilities, in the workplace and in the home setting too.”
Vanden Brink said norovirus isn’t usually fatal, but it could be if an infected person becomes dehydrated.
“That’s why, with any illness, we tell people to push fluids,” she said. “And, there’s no medicine for norovirus. It just needs to run its course.”
Vaccines and other practices can reduce spread
Goodner and Vanden Brink agreed receiving available vaccines for viruses is an important component in protection and prevention.
“We can always do better at vaccinating,” Goodner said. “Our vaccination rates are probably lower than they were five years ago, and there’s no reason for that other than increased, unwarranted vaccine hesitancy. Vaccines have saved a lot of lives over the years. Vaccines and public sanitation have done more for public health than anything else. Vaccines are proven to work.”
Vaccines aren’t guaranteed to prevent an infection, but Vanden Brink said if someone is vaccinated, the chances of them becoming seriously ill are greatly decreased.
“People can still get very sick from COVID or flu or RSV,” she said. “We have vaccinations for all of those, but whether or not you get them, that’s up to you.”
Goodner said vaccines, including the COVID vaccine, are especially effective in the short term as a means of protecting oneself against viruses.
“And, they’re a very effective way to prevent serious disease in people with underlying health problems like cancer or a bad heart condition,” the doctor said. “People over 70 run the risk that any respiratory condition could put them in the hospital, so mitigating that with vaccines is still a good idea.”
When people do contract viruses, Goodner and Vanden Brink recommend a couple of simple practices they said will help stop the illness from spreading.
“There are ways to mitigate when you’re sick,” Goodner said. “Wash your hands. Cover your mouth when you cough. These are simple things, but they’re the basis of all infection control. Do the basics — stay home, cover your mouth, wash your hands.”
Vanden Brink said special consideration should be taken when a person is not feeling well and deciding whether to go to work or school.
“We say that if someone has a fever of 100, they should not come to work, but most people aren’t going to check their temperature,” Vanden Brink said. “It’s best, if you don’t feel well, that you don’t go to work or school. There are a lot of people who tell themselves, ‘It’s just a little cold.’ But, is it? We don’t always know that.”
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