While many people are probably suffering from allergies in the spring blooms, others are fully getting sick.
Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center says they're seeing quite a few respiratory illnesses such as influenza.
"We're seeing lots of flu this year coming in waves," said Dr. Reka Danko, Chief Medical Officer. "They come in and then patients get better, and then another wave will start again."
Dr. Danko tells us they're seeing upper respiratory infections causing symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes, sore throat, fevers, chills, and difficulty breathing. Some of these symptoms people may be mistakenly writing off as allergies, especially during this time of year.
"If the symptoms are progressing, it doesn't feel like you're able to get a grip on those symptoms at home, it's better to be evaluated, find out what's going on, and see if there's something we need to do to help the body at that point," says Danko.
Regardless of all the hospitalizations Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center is seeing, Northern Nevada Public Health's most recent report from March 16th through the 22nd shows respiratory illnesses are going down.
Flu activity has decreased by 3.8% from the previous week. COVID cases have decreased by 13.2%. And RSV by 15%.
Renown Health's Doctor Thomas Chmelicek says they're actually seeing more patients suffering from allergies and shingles than any other illness.
However, he says shingles is not a seasonal illness. There just happens to be a cluster of people getting it right now.
He explains, "Shingles is contagious by definition. The people at risk are really pregnant women who obviously never had shingles and someone who's never had chickenpox, those are the ones that could be a problem. Most healthy non compromised people won't have any issue with somebody else with shingles."
And as for allergies, Dr. Chmelicek says the biggest cause is spring blooms and recent weather changes. He tells us it's best to take preventative measures now before it starts to get warm again right after our recent snowstorm.
"Allergy prevention is simple. Start taking your Claritin or Allegras today, and I encourage people to take it for a month or two because you never know how long the season will last. It could snow in June; it could be 80 degrees tomorrow in April. We don't know."
Dr. Chmelicek and Dr. Danko both recommend doing the basic measures to prevent getting sick such as washing your hands, cleaning common surfaces like doorknobs, and keyboards, and keeping a distance from those who are sick or if you're sick.
