In-depth: Local medical experts monitoring respiratory illnesses across region

"We have the tools to do better for these respiratory viruses. We just have to take advantage of them"
Respiratory illness
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Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The cold and flu season is in full swing across the nation, but medical experts in Western New York are closely monitoring trends for respiratory illnesses this year like RSV, influenza and COVID-19.

In some of the past years, experts like Dr. Kathleen Grisanti - President and Medical Director of Pediatric and Adolescent Urgent Care of WNY - noticed a large influx of one particular type of virus. Now she's seeing a wide range of respiratory illnesses affecting many throughout the region.

"While we only can test for certain ones, it doesn't necessarily matter which particular virus it is," said Dr. Grisanti in an interview with WBEN. "Obviously COVID is important to identify for the purposes of containing the virus, and making sure that it's not spread in the quarantine that's necessary. And if you can diagnose influenza A or influenza B early enough, there's an antiviral medication that will shorten the course of the illness. But it doesn't necessarily really matter which particular virus. All the viruses are basically treated the same, as far as Ibuprofen, fluids and rest, and making sure to [practice] good hand washing, try to contain the virus so that it doesn't spread staying at home when you're sick, coughing into your elbow. Those kinds of particular things are helpful, no matter what virus it is that we're dealing with."

"We already have a moderate amount of RSV in our community and influenza cases on the uptick, and unfortunately, COVID has not gone away. It's been smoldering at medium-to-low levels," added Dr. Thomas Russo from the UB Jacobs School of Medicine with WBEN. "We don't really have a great handle, because we're not tracking cases like we used to, but I have little doubt that COVID cases will be increasing here in Western New York, as we move into the cooler months."

In a given day, Dr. Grisanti and Dr. Russo have noticed more-and-more people testing positive for the three common viruses that are tested on a regular basis.

For Dr. Grisanti, they are generally only testing infants for RSV.

"It doesn't necessarily really need to identify which particular virus, where in the young infants, it's important to identify if it's RSV because there's a very predictable course that goes along with that," she said. "That kind of helps us predict where, in the course of the illness, the patient is, and whether we expect they may get worse before they get better in that situation."

Dr. Russo feels it's going to be difficult to see how things play out this year with how much RSV, flu and COVID the region will see compared to prior years. However, the tools to minimize the impact of these viruses are out there, and he says the onus is on the public to take advantage of that to minimize the impact.

"Everything starts with vaccination. We know vaccines work, and they're going to [provide] significant protection," Dr. Russo said. "I think a misunderstanding people have is both with our influenza vaccine and with our COVID vaccine. They think that's going to absolutely protect them from getting infected. Both of those vaccines are imperfect in preventing infection, but they're really good at minimizing the likelihood of an individual developing serious disease, landing in a hospital and having a bad outcome. That's really what those vaccines are all about."

Are medical experts beginning to see these respiratory viruses linger longer than usual?

"It does appear that people aren't necessarily bouncing back as quickly as they have in the past and they are lingering. And it is not unusual that symptoms are lasting 7-to-10-to-12 days now with some of these viruses," Dr. Grisanti noted.

While Dr. Russo doesn't necessarily believe there's going to be anything that is that much different than in the past, he says what will linger is the cold and flu season itself.

"Prior to COVID, we really only had flu and RSV, and now we've got a third respiratory virus. As a result of that, since these viruses, to a degree, seem to compete with each other, the season's been expanded now with this third player," Dr. Russo explained. "It feels that the respiratory virus season starts earlier, and it's been extending longer because now we have three major respiratory viruses to deal with."

While some of the treatment strategies for these respiratory illnesses are not much different, Dr. Grisanti and Dr. Russo point out it's about identifying the illness in order to properly go about treating it and getting people back to full health.

"They all can present in a very similar fashion," Dr. Russo said. "We do have home tests for COVID, as people know, but we don't have home tests for influenza or RSV. If you do go to a health center, many of them now have these rapid molecular tests to make the diagnosis. That's really the critical piece here is sorting out which virus you have so the appropriate treatment can be begun in an expedient fashion."

"With identifying the COVID, it's really to contain the illness, so you're not going to school and spreading COVID to the whole classroom or the workplace. [With] influenza, if you catch it early enough, you can take an antiviral that will shorten in the course. But there's no real treatment for any of the viruses other than it's just a tincture of time. It's ibuprofen, fluids, and rest. So it doesn't necessarily matter which particular virus it is," added Dr. Grisanti.

Other than taking precautions by getting the latest round of COVID and flu vaccines available, what other ways can people be proactive to either battle a respiratory illness, or better protect themselves from sickness, especially during the holiday season?

Dr. Grisanti says one precaution to take is being careful with family gatherings and other social events.

"We have definitely seen a spike in the respiratory illnesses after the Thanksgiving holiday. A lot of people were exposed to COVID, flu, RSV, and the other viruses at Thanksgiving dinner with large groups. So I think it's important to remember there's still COVID out there, there's still a lot of viruses out there," she said. "We should stay home and not put others at risk if we do have symptoms. It is important to share if we are diagnosed so that others can get tested that may have symptoms as well. COVID has not gone away. We're not hearing a lot about it, it hasn't changed our lives like it has in the past, but it is still very prevalent."

And if you feel like you're developing any symptoms of a respiratory illness, Dr. Russo says it's important to test immediately, especially if you are more prone to illnesses.

"If you develop any respiratory tract symptoms, particularly if you're in a high risk group for developing severe disease or if you're immunocompromised, if you're one of our seniors that have significant underlying diseases, please test as soon as possible because we have antiviral treatment for COVID such as PAXLOVID and Molnupiravir that could further decrease the likelihood that develop severe disease," he said.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images