Medical professional shares tips on preventing respiratory illness this holiday season

YORK COUNTY, S.C. (WBTV) – The holidays are here and families and friends are coming together to celebrate, but it’s also respiratory illness season. While the CDC says respiratory illness activity in the U.S. is low right now, illnesses like influenza generally pick up as the winter months approach.

As people make plans for the winter holidays, health care professionals like Rebecca Cuprys, who is a nurse practitioner with Piedmont Medical Center, are sharing details on how to prevent spreadable illnesses like influenza.

Cuprys shares, “Big things you know as far as vaccination, consider getting your flu shot even starting now. A lot of people choose to wait until a little bit closer to when we get peak flu season which tends to be in those first couple of months of the year.”

Over the last five years CDC tracking shows that vaccination exemption rates have increased in schools in North and South Carolina. In North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services data shows that this is the time of year when ER’s see more visits for respiratory viruses. Cuprys shares that vulnerable populations should consider vaccinations.

“So certainly, if you’re high risk. I think the youngest and the oldest. So, babies, really young children are gonna be high risk of severe disease. And then, your much elderly people over the age of 65 are also gonna be in that category of high risk disease,” says Cuprys.

More than 119-million people are expected to travel during this year’s holiday season, according to AAA. They predict that this holiday season’s travel will top a previous record hit in 2019. As people leave their own communities — heading to airports, stations, and community events — the risk of spreading seasonal illnesses goes up.

Cuprys says, “That’s where things spread, is through the community. People are traveling, they’re coming from different states, maybe it’s prevalent in one state and not in another. They’re gonna start spreading it all around and obviously that’s where the disease spread’s rampant and start really picking up in numbers.”

The CDC recommends that travelers make sure they are up-to-date on immunizations. Cuprys suggests travelers also consider masks. She says, “If you choose to wear a mask, if you want to prevent flu, and RSV — the most common respiratory viruses — usually just a regular mask is fine. If you are specifically looking to prevent things like COVID, that’s more of a airborne and that’s more what an N95 mask would prevent.”

This holiday season as you get on the road or head to the airport, Cuprys suggests following CDC guidelines including practicing good hygiene, and keeping your distance from others who may be sick.

She says, “Staying home if you are sick, trying to stay away from people that are sick if you can, especially if you have at-risk populations — the young and the old, or the people with comorbidities — that we specifically focus on protecting them whether that’s through vaccination, keeping them in spaces away from sick people really focusing on that and then handwashing is such a huge thing.”

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