Thanksgiving marks the start of a season of giving and sharing — but ideally that shouldn’t include germs.
That message is particularly important this year, as it appears flu season has arrived early to crash holiday celebrations. Flu-related emergency room visits and positive test numbers are ticking up in Colorado. That is especially true at Children’s Hospital Colorado, which has seen a steep increase in positive tests.
Signals from Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom, where a new variant of influenza H3N2 is circulating, are flashing warning lights for what is feared could be a rough flu season in the United States.
“It’s starting to look like we’re seeing some early influenza here in Colorado,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the deputy chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The good news is that this year’s flu shot does appear to provide decent protection against the new variant, Herlihy said. That doesn’t necessarily mean vaccinated people won’t get sick, but it means the vaccine should at least cut down the chances of being laid out by the virus.
It typically takes about two weeks post-vaccination for your body’s immune system to build up maximum protection, Herlihy said. That means it’s too late to be covered for Thanksgiving but there’s still an opportunity for holidays later in the season.
“Now is the time to get your influenza vaccine,” Herlihy said.
Beyond that, practicing good hygiene during the holiday season — washing your hands, cleaning surfaces, staying home if you’re sick and not preparing food for others if you feel unwell — will help keep a virus or bacterium from being the holiday gift that keeps on giving.
Here’s a rundown of other nasties you may encounter while out a-wassailing.
Norovirus
It’s called the “winter vomiting disease” for a reason. Norovirus: It’s not just for cruise ships.
Definitely the grossest way to spoil your holiday fun, norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the United States, Herlihy said. It is typically spread when someone who is sick has direct contact with others. It appears Colorado is seeing a slower start to norovirus season, Herlihy said, but why take the risk?
There is no vaccine for norovirus, so that makes prevention the best avoidance strategy. Skip the festivities if you’re feeling ill, and don’t make food or drinks for others.
Do: Wash your hands properly — we’re definitely in songs-you-can-wash-by territory — with soap and water, and wipe down contaminated surfaces with bleach or wipes that specifically say they are effective against norovirus.
Don’t: Use only hand sanitizer or common cleaning wipes. While they work on some germs, Herlihy said they’re no match for norovirus.
Whooping cough
Not the kind of whooping it up you or your kids want to be doing at the neighborhood party.
Cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, have been increasing in Colorado. The state has seen more than 700 cases so far this year, compared with a little over 600 cases at this time last year and 200 cases this time two years ago, according to CDPHE.
This year’s cases include some clusters and outbreaks in schools and child care centers.
There is a vaccine available — pertussis is the P in the DTaP and Tdap vaccines, which are for young kids and older kids and adults, respectively. But immunity wanes over time from both vaccination and prior infection. Vaccination in adults is recommended every 10 years.
Even if vaccinated, people can still get sick, though the disease is usually less severe. Young children, especially infants, are most at-risk, which is why health officials recommend pregnant women get vaccinated, and everyone else living in the household with a baby should also be up to date on their vaccinations, said Dr. Samuel Dominguez, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Whooping cough can be fatal in the most severe cases, and even at best it is known as the “100-day cough,” which means catch it now and you would be hacking until March.
COVID
A bright spot on your disease dial this year, COVID infections are staying chill so far this season.
“The numbers for this time of year are the lowest they’ve been since the pandemic,” Herlihy said.
The state saw a small peak in activity around the end of September, but it’s been gradually downhill since then. Still, Herlihy said COVID is unpredictable. And while Thanksgiving has in years past been a high point of COVID infections in Colorado, last year proved it’s possible to see peaks later in winter, too.
Another thing that’s changed this year: Vaccinations are down. About 10% of people in Colorado have received a COVID vaccination this year, compared with a little over 13% last year, according to CDPHE. (For flu, nearly 23% of Coloradans have received a vaccination, compared with nearly 25% at this time last year.)
That could be due to changing guidance at the federal level and a slightly delayed rollout of COVID vaccines.
Other nasties
Respiratory syncytial virus, better known by its stage name RSV, is also off to a slower start, Herlihy said. But it can be really mean to older adults and young children — it’s one of the most common reasons infants end up in the hospital.
There are now vaccines and other protections, though. Herlihy said adults ages 75 and older should get a shot of RSV vaccine. The same goes for adults ages 50 through 74 who are at increased risk of getting really sick from RSV due to underlying health concerns.
The vaccine is a one-time deal; it’s not something that requires an annual booster.
Pregnant women who are scheduled to give birth during RSV season are also encouraged to get vaccinated in order to protect their babies.
For infants under 8 months who are entering their first RSV season, there is a different kind of protection known as monoclonal antibodies — basically ready-made immune defenses — that they can receive. Some older children with underlying health issues may also be recommended to receive the antibodies.
Also, don’t poison your guests
Lastly, we would be remiss not to mention another common source of holiday illness: food poisoning.
Cook those birds right, you turkeys!
Every year, CDPHE puts out a list of food safety tips for the holidays. These basically boil down to:
- Keeping your hands and prep area clean, especially after handling raw meat, seafood and eggs.
- Separating raw meat and eggs from other foods while shopping, storing and preparing.
- Putting leftovers containing meat, dairy, eggs, fish or poultry in the fridge. This includes pumpkin pie and other custard pies.
- Making sure you cook your turkey all the way through — 165 degrees is the magic number. And don’t cook stuffing inside the turkey because it may not reach 165 itself without overcooking the bird.
May your holiday tables be filled with plentiful food, bountiful cheer and not a trace of salmonella.