Have you or your kids been feeling sick lately? If so, you're in good company. While it is flu season, the latest bug is not the flu. KCEN HD News finds out what's really going around and how you can avoid it.
Have you noticed a lot of coughing, or sneezing lately? Jannett says she has,"I've noticed sore throat, runny nose, flu-like symptoms but not the flu," she said.
Dr. John Joseph at Scott & White says she's right, it's not the flu. It could be allergies. "It's somewhat worse this year, mostly because the weather has been somewhat dry, the wind has been picking up as anybody who's been outside knows so with that combination there's a lot of dust, there's a lot of pollen, floating around," he said.
While Dr. Joseph says he's not seeing many people with the flu, there are a lot of people are coming in with viruses. "At this time of the year we see a lot of the upper respiratory tract virus. We're seeing a fair amount of the stomach flu, the stomach virus, not quite as much as upper respiratory viruses though," he said.
So how do you prevent yourself from getting sick? For the flu, you can start with a flu vaccine.
"Don't drink after other people, be careful about putting your hands where other people have put their hands, try to avoid sick contacts," said Dr. Joseph.
And Jannett has some tips of her own. "I take a lot of Vitamin C, zinc, and that's about what I do, drink a lot of fluids and wash my hands." she said.
You may even want to start thinking about washing your hands after you touch a dollar bill because Dr. Joseph says germs can stay on them for at least 8 hours.
