Several respiratory illnesses, from COVID to the flu to RSV, are surging across Southern California.
Dr. David Cutler, chairman of the Santa Monica Family Physicians medical group, told KNX News that COVID cases are rapidly on the rise. He also said the most common virus right now is probably metapneumovirus, which most people haven’t heard of. However, the most concerning ones are still COVID, RSV, and influenza.
It won’t be known how serious these COVID cases are until after the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths come out.
“We certainly know that there are more numbers of cases right now and we certainly know that from the wastewater evaluation data, there's a lot of virus in the community for many people who may not even be sick or seeking medical attention,” Cutler said.
Most of the key symptoms are the same as before – runny nose, sore throat, and fever. He said sometimes, especially in kids, they’ll see intestinal symptoms like diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting. Cutler also explained how it’s possible to have two infections at once.
“Here in our office, we've seen people come in simultaneously with RSV and the flu, COVID and RSV, all the combinations,” he said.
Cutler said the only time you have to go to the emergency room is when your symptoms become bothersome or your individual health condition puts you at risk because of age or underlying health problems.
Because people can’t really tell if it’s COVID, the flu, RSV, or some other virus, Cutler said they should put on a mask when they’re sick and isolate themselves for several days while they have a fever, or if they’re feeling ill. Also, he said people should keep their masks on for several days afterward to make sure they don’t spread it to others.
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