LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Local doctors are sharing advice on how to handle respiratory illnesses during the holidays.
Respiratory illnesses like COVID, RSV the flu and even some unnamed viruses are on the rise nationwide.
In a news release, Norton Healthcare said if you start to feel sick over the holidays, it may be best to skip family gatherings altogether.
Advanced Practioner Registered Nurse Morgan Cole said you should also pay attention to your symptoms and how long they last.
"Generally day three or four, after that peak in symptoms, generally, you trend back down to baseline and are feeling better by seven to tendays. In that first ten days or so, it really it is that supportive care that we’ve talked about getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of fluid and eating a healthy diet. If we go past that ten to 14 day window, that’s when we start to worry about, ‘do we need to do some sort of steroids?’ Maybe we need a round of antibiotics, if all of these symptoms are persisting," Cole said.
Symptoms of these respiratory illnesses can also include high fever, body aches and chills.
Norton Healthcare said many respiratory illnesses are not emergencies unless you have bad chest pain or can't breathe.
More local health stories:
- Kentucky doctor says new RSV vaccine is 'pretty much not available'
- UofL Health seeing increase in respiratory viruses, but no large spike
- 31-year-old Louisville man finishes half marathon 10 months after surviving stroke, brain surgery
- UofL Health says it saw a record-breaking number of living organ donations in 2023
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