As the community enters the respiratory illness season, it’s important to stay informed about how to help reduce the spread of disease. While it can be easy to think that viral diseases cause little effect, the ongoing spread of infection can adversely affect those who are immunocompromised, the young and elderly. This is especially true for lessening the spread of COVID-19. That’s why staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations continues to be important.
“We are always around people who may be at a higher risk of developing complications from an infection,” Robert Healy, MD, Carle Health associate chief medical officer for Quality, Patient Experience and Safety said. “The fewer people who have COVID the better the chance of those who can get complications to avoid it. Remember, there are still people admitted to the hospital each day from COVID and people do still die from it.”
While many respiratory illnesses have an impact only during certain times of the year, COVID-19 continues to see a rolling amount of illness across the central Illinois region and throughout the year. Each season, the virus can mutate, so each strain is slightly different and the previous vaccination a little less effective. Current COVID-19 vaccinations are specially formulated to address the issues of the strain seen right now and the best bet to prevent disease.
“We have seen COVID evolve into a year-round threat with intermittent spikes in cases when new strains develop,” John Wieland, MD, MHCM, Carle BroMenn Medical Center and Carle Eureka Hospital associate chief medical officer. “ When a large proportion of a community is immunized, a virus will have less activity among vulnerable individuals of that community.”
COVID-19 vaccines are now available across the Carle Health system and can be scheduled at a regularly scheduled Primary Care appointment or a nurse visit.
Right now, providers and infection prevention experts across the organization are monitoring the impact of the illness as we consider how this year’s strains will affect respiratory illness season. This continues as patients travel around the world and potentially bring home new variants or viruses to neighbors and loved ones.
“The new COVID-19 variant XEC was first spotted in June in Europe. It seems to be more infective – it will likely be the strain that hits us in November. It is still related to the other omicron variants so the latest COVID vaccines should be effective,” Dr. Healy said.
As the community looks for ways to avoid getting sick, experts say some of the tried-and-true prevention methods still work.
“As we learned during the pandemic, handwashing never goes out of style,” Dr. Wieland said. “As we head into colder weather with more time spent indoors, spaces that are well-ventilated are preferred. And with all respiratory viral outbreaks, individuals should mask themselves if they are experiencing even mild symptoms so they won’t transmit infection to others.”
Contact your local Carle Health Primary Care provider or review options for scheduling in MyCarle to remain up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations. For more information on COVID-19 resources, visit Carle.org.
“We are always around people who may be at a higher risk of developing complications from an infection,” Robert Healy, MD, Carle Health associate chief medical officer for Quality, Patient Experience and Safety said. “The fewer people who have COVID the better the chance of those who can get complications to avoid it. Remember, there are still people admitted to the hospital each day from COVID and people do still die from it.”
While many respiratory illnesses have an impact only during certain times of the year, COVID-19 continues to see a rolling amount of illness across the central Illinois region and throughout the year. Each season, the virus can mutate, so each strain is slightly different and the previous vaccination a little less effective. Current COVID-19 vaccinations are specially formulated to address the issues of the strain seen right now and the best bet to prevent disease.
“We have seen COVID evolve into a year-round threat with intermittent spikes in cases when new strains develop,” John Wieland, MD, MHCM, Carle BroMenn Medical Center and Carle Eureka Hospital associate chief medical officer. “ When a large proportion of a community is immunized, a virus will have less activity among vulnerable individuals of that community.”
COVID-19 vaccines are now available across the Carle Health system and can be scheduled at a regularly scheduled Primary Care appointment or a nurse visit.
Right now, providers and infection prevention experts across the organization are monitoring the impact of the illness as we consider how this year’s strains will affect respiratory illness season. This continues as patients travel around the world and potentially bring home new variants or viruses to neighbors and loved ones.
“The new COVID-19 variant XEC was first spotted in June in Europe. It seems to be more infective – it will likely be the strain that hits us in November. It is still related to the other omicron variants so the latest COVID vaccines should be effective,” Dr. Healy said.
As the community looks for ways to avoid getting sick, experts say some of the tried-and-true prevention methods still work.
“As we learned during the pandemic, handwashing never goes out of style,” Dr. Wieland said. “As we head into colder weather with more time spent indoors, spaces that are well-ventilated are preferred. And with all respiratory viral outbreaks, individuals should mask themselves if they are experiencing even mild symptoms so they won’t transmit infection to others.”
Contact your local Carle Health Primary Care provider or review options for scheduling in MyCarle to remain up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations. For more information on COVID-19 resources, visit Carle.org.
Categories: Staying Healthy
Tags: community, Corona, COVID-19, disease, health, infectious, vaccines, virus