What viruses to watch out for this holiday season

We are about to hit the family-gathering season and with that, multiple types of viruses await. Do you or your kid have a cold? The flu? Covid? Can adults get RSV? We try to answer those questions.

Chief of Family Medicine at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) Tamar Packer says while covid and RSV get the headlines, the main culprit this holiday season is still the common cold.

“The most common viruses are a group of viruses that cause the common cold, and that always has been and continues to be the most common thing that happens,” Dr. Packer said.

The cold tends to be the mildest of all the seasonal viruses, including runny nose, sneezing, coughing, and a low-grade fever, not enough to be bedridden.

Dr. Packer says the flu and covid share many symptoms including its quick onset,
overheating, chills, headaches, muscle aches and body pain, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, and fatigue. Covid stands out with the chance that some may lose their sense of smell or taste.

Dr. Packer says adults don’t get serious reactions to RSV. Children under two years old however are at a higher risk.

“If you think about a little kid, their airways or little. So if you’re dumping a lot of mucus and inflammatory cells into the airway, it’s pretty easy to narrow the pipe to a point that the child has difficulty breathing, which is why kids with RSV who are sick have this very wheezy cough,” Dr. Packer explained.

Dr. Packer says the flu gives off a different cough, “those kids typically have a dry cough and their respiratory symptoms may or may not be as severe. But with flu, what we see is the degree of fatigue with kids can be pretty significant.”

Dr. Packer says parents shouldn’t try to self-diagnose what their kids have.

Instead, Packer suggests treating the symptoms as they come with hydration and fever meds, if available, and to contact a doctor if, “that fever is not coming down, it doesn’t have to come back down to normal. But if it doesn’t reduce a degree or two, when you’re giving them appropriate dosages of fever medication, that’s a sign for concerned or persistence to fever for five days or more.”

Dr. Packer reminds us that heading into the holiday gathering season to get your flu shot, stay home when sick, and to wear a mask if you’re inside with a vulnerable person.