Does it seem like everyone's getting lately? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noticed as well. Take a look at their current acute respiratory illness map, and you'll see Kentucky is in bright red or the "high" category.
"It's been kind of a just a perfect storm of different waves hitting Kentucky that have kept the levels high, as opposed to other states," Dr. Nicholas Van Sickels, medical director for UK HealthCare's Infection Prevention and Control says. "Hopefully, that will signal for us a an earlier decline."
That's the hope. But for now, Dr. Van Sickles says the numbers for several respiratory illnesses remain elevated — think flu, RSV, COVID.
Add to that mix, an upswing in Norovirus, a highly-contagious virus that causes stomach flu-like symptoms. Van Sickels notes with that bug, hand sanitizer isn't going to cut it.
"Norovirus, unfortunately, does not respond to alcohol-based cleansers. You have to wash your hands and do the 20 seconds, really get in there and wash. The other thing that's important is the surfaces, and it really requires a bleach-type cleaner to clean those surfaces and get rid of the Norovirus. And so those are a couple of the key points that make it so contagious," he cautions.
The wave of different illnesses is also hitting children, especially those with pre-existing lung conditions. Dr. Lindsey Ragsdale, chief medical officer with Kentucky Children's Hospital.
"We're seeing somewhere between 10 to 20 patients each day in the children's hospital needing admission. That's a significant amount when they stay for a few days and they they get better normally and get discharged. So we're seeing high volumes," she says.
While the familiar symptoms for the respiratory bugs can be relatively similar, Van Sickels emphasizes the need to see a doctor as soon as possible if you're experiencing a persistent high fever, inability to eat and drink, vomiting profusely, or not breathing well.
Both physicians say vaccination remains the best tool to avoid serious cases of flu, RSV, and COVID.