As holiday season gets underway, here’s how to boost immunity from sicknesses
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The holiday season is here, meaning so too are sicknesses.
According to a recently-released survey from the University of Pennsylvania, more than a third of Americans are worried that they or one of their family members will catch a respiratory virus in the coming months.
Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Christa Stedman believes these sicknesses have less to do with holiday gatherings and more to do with the weather dropping down into cooler temperatures.
"It happens anytime you have weather like we have in Austin,” she said. “Where it's cold one week, then it's hot another week and then it's cold again."
Stedman expects countless calls to come in for flu, COVID-19 and RSV.
It's a trend ATCEMS sees year over year around the winter weather months. This is why they've added a new tool to treat patients.
"We've now switched to dexamethasone because it's a little bit stronger and works quicker than methylprednisolone," Stedman explained. "This tends to lead to better outcomes for our patients long term."
Many major holidays mean more frequent family gatherings. However, Dr. Vanessa Peyton with Teladoc Health says you don't have to skip out on family time to stay away from sickness.
"If it's an event that you must attend, wear a mask, wash your hands and maintain some distance from individuals who you know could contract the illness," she said.
The primary care physician added that the winter is well known by doctors as respiratory virus season.
"Things that may cause you to have a minor cold, sniffle or be achy; may actually cause somebody else to end up in the hospital," Peyton said.
"That could be a death sentence for your grandma, who is 90-years-old and immunocompromised," Stedman said. “We don't want to see that happen."
Preaching precaution to avoid disaster, the EMS captain hopes everyone can safely celebrate Thanksgiving.
"Our team has to work on Thanksgiving, so if we're not responding to calls the entire shift and maybe can enjoy the holiday a little bit, that's obviously beneficial for our crews," Stedman said.