MICHIGAN, (WPBN/WGTU) -- How ya feeling? A growing number of folks around northern Michigan might answer that question with "not so great."
It's evident at schools and workplaces that more than a few people are out sick.
So, we sat down with an emergency room physician to answer some of our viewers most pressing questions.
"Just in the last one to two weeks, we've seen a lot of respiratory illness; upper respiratory congestion, cough, sore throat, but even the lower respiratory illness, shortness of breath, deep rattling in the chest," said Dr. Jonathan Alterie.
Ask most folks around, they'll call it the crud.
But doctors like McLaren's Dr. Alterie tend to use a little more specific terms for what's showing up at the emergency room.
"And right now, we're starting to see that Influenza A, RSV and even COVID making another appearance all at the same time, that trifecta," Dr. Alterie said.
The trifecta, each can make you feel crummy. but some slightly different symptoms and it's hard to know which is taking its toll on you.
"When COVID surfaced, we were able to test and find out are you COVID positive or negative. We don't really have that accessibility to the public for influenza or RSV to be able to go to a pharmacy or drugstore and get an at-home swab," Dr. Alterie said.
So, if you feel sick, take a COVID test, but you can't really test for the others at home. The Dr.'s advice...
"If you're not having labored breathing, you're not having chest pain, dizziness or fevers that aren't improving with Tylenol or Motrin, it's safe to hunker down at home," Dr. Alterie said.
But if you are having those severe symptoms, call your doctor.
COVID numbers around the state are low compared to what we have seen in the past, but there has been an uptick in recent weeks.
So that's floating around out there, so is RSV and the flu has arrived as well, a reminder.
"Ask any doctor "how do you protect yourself against flus?' Get a flu shot. It's not too late," Dr. Alterie said.
But if you are already feeling lowsy, regardless of the respiratory cause, there are things we may have learned through COVID that still apply now: wash your hands, if you are coughing, mask up and let your body set its boundaries.
"So, what we've learned since the COVID-era is that it's okay to be ill but it's not okay to be ill and go expose other people," Dr. Alterie said. "So, when you do feel unwell, I think it's become very normal that people are okay if you call them and tell them 'I'm not going to make it to work today,' 'I'm feeling ill,' 'I don't want to get you sick and take you out of the game.'"
Again, the advice is to evaluate your symptoms and if you can, check with your primary care doctor before going to the emergency room so as not to create an overflow problem there, wash those hands and if you are sick, stay home.
