Alaska is well into the start of respiratory disease season. That means Alaskans are getting the usual coughs, colds, COVID 19 and flus. But physicians are seeing a few things that make this year stand out.
Dr. Jay Butler, a director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke with Anne Zink, physician and former chief medical officer for the state, on a recent Line One episode.
Butler said this year the state is seeing more whooping cough, strep throat and more mycoplasma pneumonia, which is sometimes called “walking pneumonia” because most people who get it don’t feel sick enough to stay home.
“Some of the things to watch for are a cough that persists more than a few days, particularly more than a week,” Butler said. “That should raise concerns that it could be mycoplasma. And in the first couple of weeks, treatment with what we call a macrolide antibiotic can help shorten the symptoms and lead to a quicker recovery.”
Each year health experts recommend some of the same common sense measures, like washing hands, and staying home when sick. But with so many illnesses, it can be hard to know when exactly you are too sick to go out. Butler said if you have a fever or muscle aches or a cough, it’s best to stay home.
“When you have a cough, that may be something to think hard about, whether or not you want to go out and potentially expose other people,” Butler said. “Almost all of these viruses are spread through small droplets that travel through the air and then land on surfaces and then into people, or actually on people.”
He said if you have a cough and need to go out, you can protect others by wearing a mask.
Pediatrician Matt Daley said kids should also stay home when they’re really sick, but he said it’s important to get back to school too.
“If a child just has a slight runny nose, or is getting over an illness, ideally I’d like them back in daycare and school, recognizing that there’s some balancing that needs to be there,” Daley said.
He said kids need to be in school and parents need to get back to work, so families should balance caution with the potential to spread germs.
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Rachel Cassandra covers health and wellness for Alaska Public Media. Reach her atrcassandra@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Rachel here.
