Currently, around 20 patients are being treated for the illness at UK hospital in Lexington. A new strain has been identified and officials say a new booster is coming in a few weeks.
Dr. Nicholas Van Sickles is an infectious disease doctor at UK. He said the ending of the national health emergency makes prevention more difficult, but there are basic things people can do.
“Kids going back to school, a lot of these viruses, the respiratory viruses and the GI viruses are transmitted through touching your hands and then touching your face. As much as you can remember, wash your hands, use hand sanitizer, try to do that when you get home after being out and about, try to avoid touching your face.”
Dr. Van Sickles said this time of year will continue to be bad for this type of illness.
“I definitely expect to see an increase in cases, like we usually do in the fall of respiratory viruses, influenza, RSV, other cold viruses and COVID, so yes, I do expect the numbers to go up.”
Dr. Van Sickles said the newest booster is expected to arrive around the same time as early flu vaccines. He says it is perfectly safe to get both vaccinations at the same time.
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