Cases of various illnesses are on the rise as snow and cold weather keep people indoors.
Outbreaks of norovirus, also called the winter vomiting bug, are surging throughout the U.S.
Hamilton County Public Health Medical Director Steve Feagins says increased cases of the flu, COVID and RSV are also expected during this time of year.
“It appears like a typical winter,” Feagins said.
Gastrointestinal illnesses up in schools before break
Local schools saw an increase in gastrointestinal illnesses consistent with norovirus before winter break, Feagins says.
“As we come back, we'll be curious to see just how much gastrointestinal illness that we have, either from absenteeism or from school nurses,” Feagins said.
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Norovirus spreads more commonly in the winter as people spend more time indoors close to each other.
Outbreaks of the highly contagious virus have been on the rise throughout the country over the past few months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Northern Kentucky, the Health Department has not seen an increase in reports of norovirus outbreaks so far. The reported cases this year are consistent with what the agency saw last year at the same time, says Stephanie Vogel, director of population health.
COVID-19 cases expected to peak in late January
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, infections have peaked during the winter, according to the CDC.
Feagins says he expects that to happen in late January this year. That’s later than previous years’ peaks.
“We're about a month delayed in terms of that peak,” Feagins said. “[We] don't think the peak will be as large as it was last year, but if you [visit] any hospital, there's plenty of COVID positive patients in the hospital. We are doing a lot of testing and checking for that.”
The CDC reports 21.5% of adults have gotten the updated 2024─25 COVID-19 vaccine. Getting vaccinated is effective at preventing serious illness and hospitalization.
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Don't forget about the flu
With those two illnesses rising, one familiar foe seems to be lying in wait.
"We're beginning to see the influenza and if you look at Southwest Ohio, we were kind of going along sort of lower than expected," Feagins said. "And now we're right at where we would typically see this time of year over the last five-year average of the number of influenza hospitalizations."
Tips for staying healthy
Vogel recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water to prevent norovirus.
“We want to make sure that we're washing the hands and not necessarily using hand sanitizer in place of washing the hands,” Vogel said. “If you want to do both, that's fine, but we know with norovirus, hand sanitizer is not necessarily effective.”
Norovirus can also live on surfaces for a long amount of time. Vogel says people should avoid sharing food and drinks, and disinfect their homes with cleaners like chlorine bleach.
To ward off respiratory illness, Feagins suggests the usual advice of covering any coughs and washing your hands frequently.