What you need to know about flu season

Let's talk about the flu and the sick season because we know people are getting ready to gather for the holidays in just a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving and just about seven or eight weeks for Christmas. And flu cases are already spiking, and that is causing some concern. But families can protect themselves and prevent the spread of germs. Joining us live are Dr. Diana Howard with the American Academy of Family Physicians and Jessica Eck with the American Cleaning Institute. Ladies, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. Thank you very much for having us this morning. So, doctor, let's talk about this real quick. So what are we seeing so far this flu season? Well, I would say that as a primary care physician, what I see the most now is how influenza is affecting the whole family. I see children missing schools, their caregivers are missing work because they have to take care of them. And additionally, they eventually become sick. It's kind of like a ripple effect that affects the whole household. So I am highly concerned about specific populations, which includes infants, people with chronic medical Also, pregnant patients. Because they can develop more complications. And talking about complications, we are having multiple hospitalizations due to influenza. We have 6,100 hospitalizations due to the flu in a single week. This is the highest hospitalization rate we have since 2010-2011. Doctor, I just want to put this into perspective. I feel like every year we hear physicians, we hear health experts all saying that this is a pretty bad flu season or people really need to be cautious with the flu this season. Is this more concerning this year for you than maybe years past? I think that every year has different concerns in terms of health. We are having not only one single virus, we have other viruses that can complicate our situation. We talk about COVID, we talk about RSV. So yes, I am highly concerned this specific year because we have decline in immunization and vaccinations. And I always encourage my patients, it's never too late to to get a vaccine at this point. is actually a perfect timing. We talk about getting the vaccine and our body will start building protection, which you can take up to two weeks. So exactly the time before you get your holiday gathering. So what are some important steps people can take right now? Obviously, you mentioned being able to have that flu vaccine. Obviously, you want to make sure your immune system is up and top notch. But what would you tell people right now, maybe besides just the flu shot, or is the flu shot your really number one recommendation? That's the thing that everyone should focus on right now. Yes, I would say we'll start. We have a few recommendations could be easily taken by any any patient, any age. Yes, vaccination is recommended for six months and above. So between six months and eight years, they're going to need two vaccines. And it's four weeks apart just because it's the first time they're getting the influenza shot. We recommend it at the beginning of the season because it can help to have a herd immunity, which means when we have a large population that received a vaccine, this population becomes immune. And then in this way, it's very difficult for the virus to spread and we protect whoever cannot receive the vaccine. But at this point of time, it's also important you still have time to protect yourself and protect your loved ones. Other than the vaccine that you can get with your primary care or local pharmacy, I always recommend hand washing. Proper hand washing can take up to 20 seconds with water and soap that can reduce up to 21% chances of upper respiratory infections. On top of that, if you're already sick, you want to stay home until your symptoms improve. Now, let's also think about the other type of transmission, which is a surface transmission. If you are in the same room with someone who has influenza, the surface around can also allow the virus to live and potentially infect someone up to 48 hours. So, also cleaning surfaces frequently can help to reduce the infection transmission. So you did the perfect transition for us. Jessica Eck is from the American Cleaning Institute. Jessica, what are some things people really need to keep in mind when they are in the process of disinfecting things? I was sick a couple of weeks ago and ended up having to get an antibiotic and I had to go through a deep cleaning and I made sure I scrubbed everything. But what should people know when they are sick and the cleaning measures they should take? Absolutely. So when you are sick and you don't want to get others in the family sick, that cleaning and disinfecting becomes a very important step. You want to make sure you're cleaning the dirty surfaces first before you disinfect and then follow the directions on the label. What it's going to tell you on that spray or wipe is how long a surface needs to stay wet With the product. And that's the contact time, so if it doesn't stay wet that whole contact time you might not get the cleaning impact that you think you are and killing those germs. So pay attention to that and then for surfaces that you put food on or toys that might go in the mouth, you want to rinse it off with water. After disinfecting and you don't have to disinfect everything, really focus on the places where it matters on those high touch surfaces. We're looking at light switches, doorknobs, countertops, faucets, anywhere that multiple people in the home interact with on the course of the day. And those are all the things that I targeted when I was trying to clean up after a few days on my antibiotic, making sure that everything was clean and we kept it. kind of moist for a while to make sure that the deep cleaning actually happened. For me, what was so interesting, I only learned what I feel like maybe five, six, six, seven, eight, maybe I think it was probably during COVID that you need to keep the surface wet. And needs to make sure, and like, honestly, sometimes it's saying 30 seconds to a minute or something to get that full disinfecting time. It's not like a simple wipe with a Lysol or Clorox wipe is perfectly fine. It's that needs to make sure it's staying wet beyond that. I mean, what would your recommendation be with those wipes? Because that can obviously be, they're wet and they're moist, but those dry pretty quickly once you wipe it. Is it kind of a situation where you want to make sure, keep going over it over and over again to make sure it stays wet for the length it needs to? Yeah, you want to wipe it a few times to make sure that that product has really covered the surface so that it can stay wet for that amount of time. And it might take a few more wipes. You might not be able to do one across, you know, your entire surface. And that is fine. You want to make sure that you are getting the germ killing power that you are counting on. So let me ask you guys this, and I don't know who may want to take it up. Someone on our TikTok chat right now who is watching along with us live, Marie Bellaget is her name. She always is engaging with us here at Fox 5. She was saying preventative measures. What should people know? I guess for the doctor, this might be for you. What would you want people to know? Preventative measures, obviously cleaning surfaces, making sure you're hand washing and things like that. Anything else besides a flu shot you would recommend? So I would say also, if you feel that you are sick and you are unsure if you have the flu or any other viruses, I would recommend to stay home. Stay home to prevent the transmission of the infection. Also, you're going to make sure that there are two things. One, that you feel that your symptoms are improving before you return to work or return to school. The other one is like make sure that you are. 24 hours at least without fever, without taking medication that will lower the fever. If the answer is yes for both, then you can return. If the answer is only yes for one of them, you have to stay home. Because even if you don't have a fever, but you are not feeling that your body is improving, you may have a high chance to pass the infection. In this way, you can decrease the chances of spreading the virus. Vaccination, hand washing, and keeping surfaces clean, That also will go. It's never too late to get your vaccine. Yeah, ladies, I really appreciate you joining us, especially for cleaning. We kind of share this desk. It's kind of zoomed in, so it's hard to see, but I make sure I wipe this down regularly since a lot of us are coming and going up here as we're live on Fox Local and Fox 5 News. But ladies, I really appreciate you guys joining us to break all of this down. Really good advice for people about the flu shot and what they need to do to stay safe and also making sure you're able to clean. So ladies, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you.