SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — When they say "'Tis the Season," maybe it's the winter respiratory season they're talking about.
“In San Diego, the end of December to about the middle of February is our big season," said Dr. Davey Smith, a practicing physician and professor of medicine and infectious diseases at UCSD.
An already big season that's stretching even farther this year according to Dr. Smith.
He said it started earlier than normal in November, and the usual suspects — the flu, RSV and COVID — have a new partner in crime.
"We've never seen as much whooping cough as we are now, and that's also a respiratory disease that is problematic," Dr. Smith said.
He added weather can play a huge factory.
One second it's hot, that same day it gets cold, then we get Santa Ana winds, not to mention the fog...sounds like the lyrics to a Katy Perry record.
Instead of a hit song, though, people are getting hit with sickness, especially those with bad allergies and asthma.
“Here in San Diego, we have the Santa Anas and more dust gets kicked up and they have more reactive airway disease, so their lungs see those dust that comes in and overreacts to them," he said. "And then the other one is that a little cold might not be much to somebody else, but somebody who has bad asthma can really have a bad exacerbation with what would normally be a very gentle cold.”
Dr. Smith guessed about half his patients from now through February will be seen for respiratory issues.
He said humidifiers and air purifiers can help, but his biggest advice, to make sure you're celebrating the right season, is to "be kind."
“You might do okay with the flu, but the person that you're gonna go visit, might not do so well with the flu. So just be careful about that," he said. "And then, to have the grace when somebody's like, 'Oh, I don't feel well. I don't think that I should go. Just say, 'Yes, thank you for taking care of me,' versus, 'Oh, I really am gonna miss you.'"
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