DENVER (KDVR) – Doctors said with the barrage of illnesses this past flu season, including RSV and strep infections — not to mention lingering COVID cases — it’s still very important to curb infection.
Summer also means more people are inside staying cool and packed closer together, the summer heat can impact your body’s ability to fight infection.
“Usually we think of summer as low times for viruses and it is better, but they’re still out there,” Dr. Carrie Horn said.
Horn is the Chief Medical Officer at National Jewish Health and she hasn’t seen too many COVID cases lately.
“I think part of it related to testing and so people just aren’t coming in for testing or maybe they’re doing the home test and it’s not getting reported,” Dr. Horn said.
Viruses, Horn said, are still out there.
It could be a camp outing, a work conference or some other event that puts you close to people, and you can avoid being vulnerable to infection and it starts with your hands.
“Good hand hygiene when you’re out and about and around others,” Horn said.
If you’re the one with symptoms, Horn said, take a load off and try not to infect others.
“If you’re not feeling well and you’ve got a bit of a sniffle,” Dr. Horn said, “maybe you’re not sure if it’s allergies or not, it’s ok to cancel and it’s ok to change your plans and stay home.”
The summer heat is fun to play in, but it can hurt you in more ways than one, especially if the air quality isn’t so great.
Watch for any symptoms of extreme heat, Horn said, that could compromise your immune system if it doesn’t do something worse.
“That’s when you’re going to be more susceptible to other things and so that extreme heat where you might be feeling dizzy or light-headed, getting dehydrated with a headache, things like that can affect your immune system a little bit,” Horn said.
COVID cases in Colorado are low and steady with the state’s health department reporting just 80 admissions and 63 people hospitalized this week.
Across the state, just 632 COVID cases have been reported in the last week.
