SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – In the midst of the holiday season, many schools are out, and the cold, flu and COVID-19 are going around. If you're seeing loved ones, it's a good idea to make a plan for how to stay illness-free.
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One helpful way to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses is mask-wearing, but many are likely not replacing their KN95 and N95 masks as often as they should.
"The mask will continue to work until they become soiled or crumpled or otherwise obviously not very useful," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" with Margie Shafer on Friday.
It's also a good idea to mask up indoors where there are large amounts of people. Earlier this week Oakland made a rule that people need to mask while indoors in public places.
"We're in those circumstances where indoor gatherings with lots of other people for prolonged periods of time closely – that's hazardous," he said.
People should also definitely break their masks out if they’re traveling this holiday season as an additional layer of protection.
"I would wear the mask any time indoors," said Schaffner. "I was at a shopping mall yesterday with my son – we wore masks – we were almost the only people wearing masks."
But those who are older or who suffer from underlying health conditions that make them even more at risk should definitely be masking up.
"Those are folks who – should they get infected with any of these viruses – are more likely to have a severe case," he said.
In particular, there is a wave right now of more cases cropping up amongst seniors, as many still have yet to get the new bivalent booster, or even this season's flu shot.
This week alone, there was a 34% rise in the COVID-19 death rates from the previous week in Los Angeles County, surpassing the numbers from the surge over the summer.
Between the flu, COVID-19, and RSV, "we're having a tripledemic at the present time," said Schaffner. "If one of those viruses doesn’t get you, maybe the others will."
The ones presenting the most problems at the moment are COVID-19 and the flu while RSV is plateuing and trending downward in some parts of the country.
"This is a time to be careful while we’re trying to be carefree," he said.
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