Health and Fitness : Katie Cox updates Vinton Kiwanis on Winter Illnesses and Care

The Director of Benton County Health, Katie Cox, spoke to the area Kiwanis Club sharing with the group updates on the illnesses making the round this winter.

Starting with the flu, Cox reminded everyone that as we approach the winter season and are indoors together more, the same preventative measure that we've been using still applies. Hand washing, staying home if you're ill, cleaning surfaces, and not touching your face were on the top of her list.

She reminded everyone to stay home if they were ill. This of course helps to protect anyone else that might be vulnerable, especially the elderly and infants.

The flu affects millions each year hospitalizing hundreds of thousands each year she said, with tens of thousands dying from it each year. A contagious respiratory illness, the flu affects the nose, throat, and lungs. It's spread through coughing, and sneezing and is prevented by distancing and the other above-mentioned practices.

Symptoms appear within 1-4 days and are the most contagious in that same time period. Healthier people she said may not even realize that they are sick. Flu season begins in October and peaks from December to February and can last until May.

She said that each week the state puts out a "respiratory illness survey." In Region 6, (Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Grundy, Howard, Jones, Linn, and Winneshiek counties) in the first week of November, there were 23 hospitalizations, and nine schools reporting 10% illnesses. From the 13th through the 19th, there were 31 hospitalizations, and the number of schools affected rose to 21.

RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) she said while it is most known for affecting children, it can affect anyone. Usually, when symptoms begin they are mild cold-like symptoms and you can recover in a couple of weeks. With infants and children, there is a higher risk for it to be more serious, and the same is true for the elderly.

In children, RSV inflames the airways and lungs of a child and causes pneumonia. Symptoms for children include a runny nose, nasal flaring, struggling to breath, and grunting with their breathing. The best way to find out treatment is to be tested. RSV is also spread through droplets and contagious 3-8 days from the onset often before you know that you have it.

In Iowa the first week of November 6-12 there were 938 cases, from November 13-16 there were 1,341 cases.

COVID symptoms may appear from 2-14 days after exposure, with transmission occurring in the early days when most don't know they have COVID. Recommendations now, Cox said is that if you test positive, the first five days that you isolate. Day Zero begins from the day of the first symptoms. Come out of isolation only when you are fever free without medication for 24 hours and symptoms have improved. For days 6-10, she encourages masks to be worn to decrease the spread. If you test positive for COVID without symptoms, that would be considered Day Zero. If you are exposed to COVID, take precautions and monitor for symptoms and wear a mask.

She explained that in the hospital you are asked to wear a mask at all times because of the vulnerable patients inside the hospital. She said that contact tracing is no longer happening with COVID but it is tracked in schools and long-term care facilities.

The total number of cases since 2019 in the county are 7,884, with 80 deaths (most in the first year). Last week there were 37 positive cases. Right now our community rate is low, which includes hospitalizations and severity. The transmission level has been substantial in the last few weeks.

She said that a lot has changed with COVID over the last few years. According to the CDC, the recommendation is for everyone to have a monovalent vaccine, the primary series. She said some had boosters, but now we don't need them since September when the county received the bivalent vaccines which include the omicron variants in it. She explained that with these two you would have the original coverage as well as coverage with the omicron.

The recommendation is that everyone 2 months from their original vaccine or their booster dose, now get a bivalent vaccine.

If you have COVID now, the recommendation is to wait 3 months to get a bivalent vaccine for extended coverage. Available vaccines are Moderna and Pfizer for boosters. Johnson and Novovax are available through care providers. You can CLICK HERE to check the upcoming December vaccine clinics.

Cox said that they have seen the effectiveness and that hospitalizations and severity of COVID have decreased. She explained that COVID is one of the illnesses that is mandatory to be reported to the state. However, with the home testing kits, it's not really possible to get an accurate number of cases, unless people come in with symptoms. She said that the home tests have helped people to self-diagnose.

There really aren't any set symptoms Cox said that she could say tell you when to see the doctor because symptoms are so varied. There is the loss of taste and smell, some have a scratchy throat similar to allergies. She said COVID has some of the same symptoms of the flu, achiness, fever and at the same time it could be RSV, so it's hard to pinpoint without a test. She said it's hard sometimes to tell if you're sick. But if you feel sick, stay home and get tested. She said if you do have COVID and test 48 hours apart and have two negative test results you can discontinue wearing a mask.

Michele Schoonover shared that the hospital policy is that if an employee gets COVID they have to stay home for 14 days unless they have two negative tests in 48 hours. She said, "It's one of the weirdest diseases. Some haven't ever gotten it, others have had it three times."

Schoonover explained that in Nursing and Rehab they test anyone entering. Again, you might have COVID and not know it so this protects the residents from exposure.

You are encouraged to look up expired COVID home tests if they are expired. Some expiration dates have been extended, while others have not.

The presentation can be seen HERE.