SAN ANTONIO — You may be ready to start the new year healthy, but Influenza cases have remained higher than in previous years and health care professionals are also seeing a host of other viruses.
A new strain of COVID's omicron variant is making people sick, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been common this season and doctors are even seeing widespread norovirus. For those not familiar, norovirus typically causes stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea or vomiting according to the CDC.
And in addition to all that, mountain cedar allergies, known as "Cedar Fever," are causing problems too.
This means it can be difficult to recognize what you have, and even harder to know if you should see a doctor. Dr. Jason Bowling, an epidemiologist with University Health, spoke with KENS 5 to provide some guidelines.
When to see a doctor
Bowling said body aches and fever may be unpleasant, but they also don't necessarily warrant a trip to the doctor. If a person is having issues with chest pain or problems breathing, however, that's another story.
"The warnings for severe illness: If you are having chest pain, chest pressure, tightness in your chest, shortness of breath, particularly at rest... those are all signs that your respiratory illness is more than just a mild illness and you need to get some medical care," Bowling said.
Bowling told KENS 5 that sudden symptoms of confusion, having trouble remembering things or having difficulty staying awake are also signs of severe illness and need to be checked out.
At the same time, he said, patients should try to go to a family doctor or an urgent care location instead of going to the emergency room, as most ERs are currently overcrowded.
"Emergency rooms throughout the South Texas region are really busy right now. They are busy on top of the fact that respiratory viruses are up," Bowling said.
When to stay home from work
Bowling said people who still have symptoms, and believe the symptoms are from a virus, should stay home. If a patient is currently using medication to control pain or a fever, he said, that patient still has symptoms.
"If you are having to use medications to keep your fever suppressed, that doesn't mean you are fine to go into work. That means you are using medicines," he said. "You want you temperature to be gone when you are not using ibuprofen."
People who may have allergies but need to go out in public can wear a mask to prevent them from possibly spreading illness to others.
What do I have?
Bowling said influenza, RSV and COVID are the three major viruses making people sick right now, but allergies and norovirus are also widespread. The illnesses have many shared symptoms, but there are a few ways to rule them out.
Allergies alone will not cause a fever or body aches, so patients that have those symptoms likely have some kind of illness.
"If you have a fever you can have seasonal allergies, but you have something else going on as well," Bowling said.
Norovirus commonly causes stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea or vomiting. While it's sometimes called the stomach flu, it is not related to influenza and symptoms should be limited to the abdominal area. A headache would likely be caused by something else.
COVID tests are still widely available and help to rule out COVID-19.
RSV symptoms include runny nose, a decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever and other cold-like symptoms. However, it is much more likely to affect children younger than 2 and older individuals.
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