The news media calls it flu season. But healthcare providers know it’s much more than that—it’s respiratory season, the time of year when several cold and influenza viruses circulate widely, filling doctors’ offices, urgent care clinics, and emergency rooms with miserable patients. And this year, COVID-19 is expected to greatly compound the misery for everyone.
The flu and COVID-19 are top of mind as we enter the 2020-21 respiratory season. But even during previous flu seasons, influenza was not the most common respiratory pathogen in circulation. Data from BioFire® Syndromic Trends show that influenza comprised less than one third of detected respiratory pathogens during peak flu season.
Furthermore, respiratory co-infections are common. In some cases, as many as 20% of COVID-19 patients have co-infections with another respiratory virus.1 Similarly, viral coinfection rates among patients who have tested positive for influenza have been reported to be as high as 20%.2
What makes all this particularly challenging is that several respiratory pathogens produce similar, overlapping symptoms. COVID-19 symptoms can include coughing, fever, headache, and sore throat.3 Flu symptoms and cold symptoms can be very similar. That’s why it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine what’s causing a respiratory infection based on symptoms alone.
When a doctor sees a patient who is sick with a respiratory infection, the only way to determine what’s making them sick—whether it’s COVID-19, the flu, or a cold—is diagnostic testing. The bottom line is that the upcoming respiratory season has the potential to flood doctors’ offices and testing sites with patients. Here are some tips to help protect yourself and reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
Get a flu vaccine. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older get their annual flu vaccine before the end of October.4 Although a flu vaccine will not protect you from getting COVID-19, high rates of flu vaccination can help reduce the burden of flu illnesses on the healthcare system and conserve medical resources for those with COVID-19.
Wash your hands. Often. Wash your hands after you’ve been in a public place; before and after eating or preparing food; after coughing, blowing your nose, or sneezing; and after visiting the restroom. Wash for at least 20 seconds, making sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. If you don’t have access to soap and water, you can use a hand sanitizer that’s at least 60% alcohol.5
Wear a mask. The CDC recommends everyone over the age of 2 years old wear a mask when in public and when around people who don’t live in your house, especially when you can’t maintain social distancing.6
Keep your distance. Keep at least six feet of distance between yourself and others who don’t live in your house.6
Cover coughs and sneezes. Use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth, then throw the tissue away and wash your hands.
Stay at home if you are sick. Also, keep kids home from school when they are sick. If you’ve been diagnosed with the flu, the CDC recommends you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone—without the need for fever-reducing medicine.4 If you’ve had COVID-19, the CDC says you should stay away from others for at least 10 days after your symptoms first appeared. Additionally, you need to have gone 24 hours with no fever—without the use of fever-reducing medicine—and your other COVID-19 symptoms should be improving.7
If you are experiencing symptoms that could be caused by COVID-19 or the flu, your first step should be to call your healthcare provider. The CDC recommends testing for people who have symptoms of COVID-19 and those who have had close contact for at least 15 minutes with someone with confirmed COVID-19.8 Additionally, your state and local health departments will likely offer information on when—and where—to get tested.
As the COVID-19 pandemic collides with the annual flu season, clinicians and healthcare organizations are preparing for the unknown. This uncertainty—and the similar symptomology of many respiratory pathogens—highlights the value of BioFire’s syndromic approach, which combines the abilities to detect several possible pathogens into one, rapid test.
For example, the BioFire® Respiratory 2.1 (RP2.1) Panel identifies 22 respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and many other cold viruses and bacteria—all with one test and with results in about 45 minutes. Rapid answers on a broad range of pathogens can enable faster patient management decisions and relieve anxious patients.
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