Cold and flu season is ramping up in Michiana, and health providers say now is the time to prepare.
Lizzie Russell, a nurse practitioner with Saint Joseph Health System, says she’s already seeing some seasonal illnesses — though the flu hasn’t peaked yet.
"I've seen more with strep throat some occasional COVID will pop in but not a ton of flu has been showing up just yet. But yet the strep and the COVID have been definitely showing up in the early part of this fluent COVID season," Russell said.
She says vaccines remain the most important protection against serious illness.
"Vaccines help us to protect our bodies from illness because it gives our body a preview of the illness before they get it. It helps us to prepare our body to prepare its defenses against that illness before you contract it," she said.
Russell adds that not every sniffle is the flu. Allergies, for example, usually don’t come with fever or body aches.
"With determining between allergies versus an illness a lot of the top factors include fever feeling really fatigued or run down muscle aches and body aches. With allergies we normally just have kind of a runny nose maybe some itchy eyes and sometimes like a scratchy throat when we wake up in the morning. But normally the symptoms resolve by the end of the day," Russell said.
She also wants families to remember that debates around vaccines shouldn’t get in the way of staying healthy.
"I like to fight a lot of the myths that are out there about vaccines and make sure that everyone knows that it doesn't need to be political. It is really just about protecting you and your health," she said.
Russell recommends handwashing, disinfecting school items like backpacks and coats, and getting flu and COVID shots now, since it takes two weeks for them to become fully effective.
