It’s quite common to want to protect your health during the holiday season. But illnesses can still linger around the corner, even if we’re only talking about a short-lived stomach bug.
In fact, missing out on several days of a well-deserved holiday can turn out to be a bit frustrating. To efficiently avoid this, we decided to discuss some of the common illnesses that can occur during the holiday season, and what you can do to prevent them.
If you’re anything like me, you will focus more on prevention and less on dealing with them once they arrive, since God knows how long it will take to find a good doctor during Christmas.
Essential hypertension illness
Essential hypertension is high blood pressure that isn’t caused by any underlying medical condition. This specific type of hypertension is oftentimes associated with a series of factors such as obesity, an unhealthy diet, as well as family history.
But there is also good news to this: this condition can be reversed by making specific lifestyle changes, such as:
- incorporating constant exercise into your daily routine
- avoiding alcohol consumption
- keeping a healthy diet that is lower in sodium
- ensuring good sleep habits
- giving up smoking
Acute upper respiratory infection
Upper respiratory infections can have a huge impact on your sinuses and throat. Some of the main symptoms of an upper respiratory infection also include a runny nose, sore throat, and cough.
Treatment for such infections generally involves plenty of rest, drinking many fluids, and taking recommended over-the-counter pain relievers. Most of these infections go away on their own, but there are a few steps that can be taken to prevent them:
- Wash your hands, especially before you start cooking or preparing the food.
- Sneeze, and cough into your arm or tissue, and make sure you wash your hands afterward.
- Avoid contact with people who are sick.
- Drink as many fluids as you can.
- Get enough sleep.
- Quit smoking.
- Keep up with routine checkups and immunizations.
Gastroenteritis illness
Commonly known as the stomach flu, it mainly irritates and inflames the stomach and intestines. A viral or even a bacterial infection is at fault for gastroenteritis.
Gastroenteritis can easily spread through contact with an infected person, contaminated water and food, as well as unwashed hands after using the bathroom or changing a diaper.
The most common cause of gastroenteritis is a virus since the main types are rotavirus and norovirus. Even if it’s less common, bacteria like E. coli and salmonella can easily trigger the stomach flu.
You can prevent getting bowel infections if you take care of what you eat and drink and practice good hygiene. It’s also fairly important to note that children can become dehydrated rapidly. So in case your child suffers from stomach flu, it’s important to watch out for signs of dehydration.
Urinary tract infection
A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that can show up in any part of the urinary system, such as the kidneys. To efficiently help prevent UTIs, it’s important to practice good hygiene.
Make sure you always wipe from front to back after a bowel movement, drink six to eight glasses of water on a daily basis, and wear loose-fitting clothing and cotton underwear to prevent moisture buildup.
Also, remember to use the restroom as soon as you feel you need to go, to avoid holding it for too long. If you take these simple steps, you can help keep your urinary system healthy and reduce the risk of UTIs.
Acute sinusitis
Acute sinusitis is a condition that shows up when your sinuses, the spaces inside the nose, become all swollen and inflamed. This makes it way more difficult for the sinuses to drain, which can further lead to breathing issues and a throbbing face or even a headache.
Acute sinusitis is caused by a viral infection, with the common cold being the most common cause. In some instances, blocked sinuses can also lead to a bacterial infection.
If you want to reduce the risk of getting acute sinusitis, it is very important to take needed precautions. First, avoid close contact with people with colds or any other infections, and constantly wash your hands with soap and water.
Then, try to work with your healthcare provider to efficiently manage allergy symptoms and avoid smoking cigarettes or breathing polluted air (even if nowadays is close to impossible.)
Luckily, using a humidifier can turn out to be helpful, because it adds moisture to the atmosphere and helps prevent dryness in your home that could lead to sinusitis.
Acute tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is when your tonsils are infected. The tonsils are a crucial part of the process of filtering out harmful pathogens that could easily enter the airways and cause infections.
They can produce antibodies to fight infections. But in some cases, the tonsils can easily become overwhelmed by bacteria or viruses, leading to inflammation and swelling.
It’s also worth noting that the germs responsible for causing viral and bacterial tonsillitis are very contagious. Hence, practicing proper hygiene habits is one of the most efficient ways to prevent tonsillitis.
Avoid sharing utensils, food, water bottles, or even drinking glasses, and try to replace your toothbrush after being diagnosed with this condition.
Respiratory viruses ahead of the 2024 holiday season
According to a few experts in hospital systems, like WakeMed, there’s a “quadrupledemic” of respiratory viruses, like COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, as well as walking pneumonia.
As Dr. Christopher Chao said, “We are noticing more and more viruses, mostly influenza, but also RSV. We have also seen high levels of enterovirus and rhinovirus since these are viruses that might cause the common cold.”
Experts say we generally see bumps right after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. However, the good news is that the number of cases this year isn’t just as bad as case counts from last year.
We are still noticing COVID around, but the numbers of COVID haven’t been anywhere close to what we saw them three or four months ago.” he added.
Moreover, according to data from the NC Department of Health and Human Services, flu and RSV are increasing, while COVID-19 cases have been just as steady. As Dr. David Weber from UNC Health explained, “RSV last week was around 70 cases. Flu is 35.
Hence, we have more RSV than flu, but not in the way that requires hospitalization.” But he also mentioned that they are seeing cases of the common cold on the rise as well, with 140 cases last week. “The other thing we keep seeing for the last three or four weeks is a huge number of cases of walking pneumonia.”
Experts also believe that it’s not too late to get the vaccine and enhance protection this holiday season. Doctors expect all four diseases to peak after Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s celebrations end in early January.
However, it doesn’t mean that Christmas or even holiday gatherings need to be ruined, or that you need to isolate. However, more common sense is needed to effectively navigate such a rough period when plenty of viruses wander around like snowflakes.
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