Page 4 • Wednesday , December 28 , 2022 • The Hammonton Gazette
Hammontonians deal with flu , respiratory illnesses
FLU , from Page 1 passages are smaller which can swell making it harder for them to breathe due to airway narrowing ,” Brabson said .
Underlying conditions cause older adults to grow sicker .
“ With the older adults , they usually have some underlying health conditions , either heart or lung conditions , and it the flu , RSV and the coronavirus make those conditions worse . That ’ s where they ’ re running into more problems when they get the flu or RSV ,” Brabson said .
The symptoms of RSV are similar to those of the common cold . Symptoms include runny nose , decrease in appetite , coughing , sneezing , fever and wheezing . According to AtlantiCare , they are still seeing people who have COVID-19 but believe that RSV has hit its peak , however , it is still spreading among children and young adults .
The last time that medical professionals saw flu numbers this high was during the H1N1 flu pandemic during 2009 and 2010 . Dr . Brabson said he believes that southern New Jersey is seeing a rise in cases this year that is multifactorial compared to 2009- 10 .
“ One of the reasons is that the flu vaccines are based on the strains that are seen the year before and with the fact that during the COVID-19 pandemic , one : people were masking up so we didn ’ t see a lot of the flu because of the preventative mechanisms ,” Brabson said .
“ Two : the vaccines usually lag a year behind so they base it on the strain from the year before and then three : the virus always has the ability to mutate or change so there ’ s no way to predict what strain is going to be the predominant strain or strains that will be occurring the next year .”
AtlantiCare also noted that based on data from the southern hemisphere , they know that the flu vaccine has about a 49 percent efficacy rate at preventing hospitalizations . Brabson made it a point to encourage people to get the flu vaccine , noting if individuals do get the flu , being vaccinated can shorten the duration of the illnesses and lessen the severity of the symptoms .
“ While we want people to get vaccinated with the current vaccine that is believed to be the highest efficacy in fighting the flu , it ’ s not going to be 100 percent ,” Brabson said .
Right now , the healthcare field is primarily seeing a strain of H3N2 , which is flu A and can anticipate a wave of flu B strain early in 2023 . Brabson noted that testing is constant when it comes to the different strains of the virus throughout the year . He said the flu season typically goes through different changes , which is usually in the late fall , winter and then ends in the early spring . Brabson said they began to see a change during the COVID-19 pandemic as as
people were getting the flu in the late spring and early summer .
“ It really boils down to primarily that the flu is there , it ’ s how it gets transmitted and as they test to see what strain it is , they will identify a strain that has not been labeled or identified before and then they will give it those markings ,” Dr . Brabson said .
With it being a respiratory virus , the severity of the symptoms can include difficulty breathing and Brabson emphasized that anyone who is having a sense that they ’ re having severe difficulty breathing should get evaluated immediately .
The most common symptoms usually are low-grade fever , generalized body aches , joint pain , nausea , vomiting , diarrhea , according to Brabson .
“ Those who have those minor symptoms just need to treat those symptoms . Over-the-counter medications usually are sufficient , plenty of rest and staying hydrated with fluids , including sports drinks because they can help with some of the electrolytes ,” Brabson said .
With more people showing symptoms of the flu and finding
See ATLANTICARE , Page 18
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