SAN ANTONIO – With the winter season nearing and people gathering for the upcoming holidays, the spread of respiratory viruses in our community is expected to begin.
Overall, cases right now for respiratory illnesses remain low in San Antonio, according to Metro Health.
However, officials said there is a concerning rise in local whooping cough cases.
“We are seeing about 230% increase in the number of [whooping cough] cases,” said Dr. Anita Kurian, Deputy Director at Metro Health.
Kurian said whooping cough numbers are returning to pre-pandemic levels, and that’s due to social distancing, isolating and masking being a thing of the past.
“Those measures that we put in place for COVID-19, but also effective to prevent the spread of other respiratory illnesses, including whooping cough,” Kurian said.
Prior to the pandemic, Metro Health would report about an average of 60 cases of whooping cough a year in San Antonio.
Whooping cough is a common respiratory illness that typically begins like the common cold, but coughing can last for weeks or months.
Babies younger than 1-year-old are at greatest risk for getting the virus.
The best ways to prevent whooping cough is with a vaccine. Children get the DTaP vaccine at two, four, six and 15 through 18 months old. Another vaccine is given between the ages of four and six.
After early childhood, teenagers, expectant mothers and other adults can receive the Tdap booster shot.
Other respiratory illnesses that occur frequently during the winter months are the flu, RSV and COVID-19.
“Many respiratory viruses circulate during this all winter season, especially around holidays when people tend to travel more or gather indoors,” Kurian said.
Prevention is key to stopping the spread of respiratory illnesses during the holiday season. Kurian said staying up-to-date on your vaccines, staying home if you’re sick, coughing into your elbow or sleeve rather than your hand and practicing good hand hygiene are all prevention techniques.
“Frequent hand washing is the simplest but the most powerful way of preventing the spread of illnesses,” Kurian said.
When it comes to treatment, age plays a factor.
For adults, it’s not recommended to go to the doctor unless your symptoms are worsening and not improving after a few days.
For babies, you want to get them to the doctor as soon as possible if they are excessively crying, have difficulty breathing and/or are struggling to eat.
“Some of the serious complications that we see with the babies, you know, babies can get pneumonia, they can have seizures. They can have infections of the brain and sometimes can result in death as well,” Kurian said.
You can learn more about getting immunized this winter season by clicking here.