Protect Yourself from Illness, Preserve the Festivities this Holiday Season

By Carol A. Sheridan, RN, MSN, CIC, Associate Director of Infection Prevention, Montefiore Medical Center 

Manhattan Voice 

November 29, 2024

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NEW YORK - Preparing for holiday gatherings and traveling can be stressful for many reasons and feeling ill during the holiday season can certainly ruin the festivities. One way to safeguard yourself and your family is to connect with your primary care doctor or nurse practitioner to get tailored advice, weighing your individual risk and the benefits of vaccination for illnesses like COVID, RSV and influenza.

Each person has individual characteristics that can increase or decrease their likelihood of moderate to severe illness this viral season. Some factors that can impact your risk of getting severely ill from respiratory viruses are:

* Your Age: 65 and older or under 2 years old.

* Conditions that affect airways like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and cystic fibrosis.

• Difficulty coughing, swallowing, or clearing fluids from the airways.  

• Weakened immune system due to disease or medications that suppress the immune system.ndocrine disorders, such as diabetes, or a body mass index (BMI) of 40 kg/m2 or higher.

• Conditions that affect the heart, liver and kidney.

• Conditions that affect blood cells like sickle cell disease. 

What to Know About Influenza Vaccines

Flu vaccines administered with a needle (the same one used for insulin injection), cannot cause flu; the vaccines contain either an inactivated influenza virus or just a single protein from the virus. Common reported side effects are soreness, redness, and local pain at the injection site. You might experience a low-grade fever, headache, and muscle aches. These symptoms, which can be a little uncomfortable, are considered signs your immune system is responding, part of creating protective immunity. If you are concerned about how to manage these symptoms, discuss this with your healthcare team.

Research has demonstrated that adults with influenza vaccination saw a decrease in need for medical attention. Vaccinated adults have less influenza-associated visits to the doctors’ office and emergency room and are less likely to need to be hospitalized due to the flu. Those who did require hospital care were less likely to need intensive care unit support and less likely to die due to the illness.

 

Everyday Tips for Viral Season

• Beyond vaccines, we can take steps each day to reduce the spread of influenza, RSV and COVID. These include avoiding close contact with anyone who is sick in your household or in public. If you are caring for someone who is sick, wash your hands before and after contact, and wear a mask to cover both your nose and mouth.

• Staying home for at least 24 hours and limiting your contact with others if you are sick. Try to avoid contact until your symptoms are better and always cover your nose and mouth with tissues if you are coughing or sneezing.

• Bringing air circulation into your home, by opening windows during gatherings.

• Keeping high touch surfaces in your home disinfected by using wipes to regularly clean surfaces that family members touch (i.e., Refrigerators, doorknobs and faucets).

The holidays are a joyful time when we gather with family and friends in gratitude, don’t let a preventable illness keep you away from those you love this holiday season.