Respiratory Illness Surveillance
This past week, we’ve seen evidence that RSV, Flu A, and Flu B are circulating in our community, although at much lower levels than a few months ago. The concentration of Flu B continues to drop. We did see slight increases in Flu A and RSV. It’s not too late to be vaccinated to protect against both of these viruses. It is possible to have multiple infections at once, and those tend to lead to worse outcomes.
The CDC has issued some new guidance for all of these illnesses which we’ve summarized below. Remember, if you’re feeling sick, consider staying home, especially if you might be around someone at higher risk for severe illness. If you cannot isolate, consider wearing a mask.
If You Get Sick from a Respiratory Virus:
- Stay at Home: you should stay at home and away from others until at least 24 hours after your symptoms improve and you have not had a fever without taking fever-reducing medication.
- Resume activities, and use added prevention: for the first five days after resuming normal activities, take added precautions like wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping distance from others, and get tested for respiratory viruses. You may still be contagious past the stay at home period.
Treatment: Oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 like Paxlovid are highly effective if taken within 5 days of symptom onset. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies found that people who received Paxlovid had 75% lower odds of death and 60% lower odds of hospitalization. If you have a positive COVID-19 test, call 907-543-6949 or your local clinic for more information.
Testing: Laboratory tests are currently widely available and can be readily accessed for diagnosis of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. At-home antigen tests for SARS-CoV-2 are also widely available and increasingly familiar to the public. At-home rapid tests for influenza have recently received FDA approval and may become more widely accessible over time. At-home COVID tests can be picked up at security desks at the hospital. In villages, schedule a test at your local clinic. You can also order four free at-home COVID-19 tests at www.covid.gov/tests.
Preventative Measures
Immunizations: The most important thing you can do to protect yourself is to stay up to date with COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines. People ages 65 years and older should receive 1 additional dose of any updated COVID-19 vaccine, at least four months after the previous dose or infection.
YKHC also offers monoclonal antibodies to infants aged 0-19 months and vaccines for pregnant individuals in their third trimester to prevent hospitalizations from RSV in infants. The RSV vaccine is also available for people 60 and older. Last year had several RSV outbreaks. To get vaccinated against RSV, Flu, or COVID-19, please contact your clinic or YKHC scheduling if you haven’t already this fall.
Annual vaccination can protect you against the most severe effects of the flu and reduce the chance of spreading the disease to others in our community. The COVID-19 and flu vaccines were updated this fall to better match the strains currently circulating in the region.
In Bethel, schedule a time to receive your shot by calling 907-543-6442. In villages, please contact your local clinic to make a flu and COVID shot appointment for you and your family.
Hygiene: Certain respiratory viruses like RSV and adenovirus are thought to spread through surfaces. Washing your hands often and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces can be helpful for viruses that can be spread in this way.
Clean Air: Ventilation and related strategies like HEPA air filtration to improve indoor air quality can reduce infective viral particle concentrations in indoor air.
We are here to support your health and well-being. Please schedule your flu shot and take precautions to protect yourself and our community from respiratory diseases this winter.
YKHC Office of Environmental Heath's Testing of Bethel Wastewater
When people are ill from a viral infection, they release bits of virus into the wastewater when they use the toilet or wash their hands. The YKHC Office of Environmental Health consistently collects and evaluates Bethel wastewater to detect SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A and B, and RSV using sophisticated genomic testing techniques at our wastewater lab in Bethel.
Bits of virus in the wastewater include genetic material known as RNA or DNA. Our lab uses the same type of equipment as the hospital to detect genetic material specific for a particular virus. When we have a positive wastewater test, we know that the virus is in our community. Higher concentrations of the genetic material suggest there are more people with the virus in the community.
Wastewater testing does not tell us who is sick with the virus, but it does help us recognize when a virus enters the community and whether infections are going up or down.
YKHC COVID-19 and Influenza Recommendations:
We strongly urge all residents ages 6 months or older to receive their 2023/2024 flu and COVID-19 shot. This annual vaccination can help protect you from the most serious effects of the flu and reduce the likelihood you will spread the disease to others in our community. The COVID-19 vaccine was updated this fall to more closely align with strains currently circulating in the region.
In Bethel, schedule a time to receive your shot by calling 907-543-6442. In villages, please contact your local clinic to make a flu and COVID shot appointment for you and your family.
Co-infections of influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 with other pathogens can lead to severe illness. If you have a positive COVID-19 test, call 907-543-6949 or your local clinic for more information. There are highly effective COVID-19 treatments that can be administered within 5 days of symptom onset. Additional announcements will be made when the updated COVID-19 vaccine is available.
At-home COVID tests can be picked up at security desks at the hospital. In villages, schedule a test at your local clinic. Starting October 2, you can also order four free at-home COVID-19 tests at www.covid.gov/tests.