LUBBOCK, Texas– The coronavirus from China has people from the United States on edge. At the time of this report, there were two possible cases under review in Texas.
The virus had infected 10,000 people globally in just two months, according to the Associated Press. By Sunday, according to the Associated Press, the virus killed more than 300 people and sickened thousands of others in China.
However, experts said that the coronavirus was not the most urgent virus people in the Hub City should be concerned with.
EverythingLubbock.com spoke with two doctors from Covenant Health who said that the virus to be more concerned with is influenza.
What experts know so far is that the coronavirus has three main symptoms: fever, cough and shortness of breath, said Dr. Prakash Shrestha, medical director of infection prevention at Covenant.
Coronavirus v. Influenza
“Whenever we have new viral infections, it gets a lot of media attention,” he said. “I think that’s what’s happening with the coronavirus.”
However, there are main risk factors to look out for in the coronavirus. One is having the symptoms, said Shrestha. Second is if someone traveled to China within the last two weeks or having contact with a person who traveled there.
As of Friday, he said there were six confirmed cases in the U.S.
However, he reiterated just how serious catching the flu is in Lubbock and what that means.
“We underestimate how bad the flu can be,” said Shrestha. “But it can take lives.”
For the season so far, there were 15 million illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths from the flu, according to the CDC.
As for Lubbock, health officials don’t have to report every single case of the flu. But the city’s weekly report did add that the flu had reached its highest activity for the season.
The city reported that flu A continues to be the circulating strain in Lubbock. At a state level, more positive tests have come back for flu A than flu B, according to the city’s report.
Moreover, in Texas, there were 13 cases for influenza associated mortality in children, according to city health officials.
Not too late to get an influenza vaccination
Shrestha said the vaccination cover lots of strains. However, it does not make one immune from catching the flu.
“We have to understand that getting vaccinated doesn’t give you a 100 percent guarantee that you won’t get infected,” he added. “It’s not as severe if you’ve had the vaccine.”
Dr. Mike Chamales, medical director of the emergency department, said the main symptoms of the flu include high fever, body aches, headache and muscle aches.
“We’re seeing a high, high volume of flu here in Lubbock,” he said. “The main thing with the flu is high fevers and body aches.”
Chamales added that severe fatigue is another main symptom.
“The flu vaccine is particularly important in the elderly and young children, because those are the folks who tend to have the worst complications associated with the flu,” he said.
Chamales said that regardless of age, it is important for everyone to get the vaccine.
“In terms of missing work, in terms of infecting everybody else, it’s really important that we all get our flu vaccine if we’re able to,” he said.
What are the protocols for coronavirus?
For anyone who arrives in the emergency room at Covenant with possible symptoms of the coronavirus, Chamales said they will ask people if they traveled to China recently.
If the answer is yes, he said they will be quarantined in specific rooms for testing.
“We have an extensive protocol set up,” said Chamales.
As for a potential vaccine for the coronavirus? One can’t be developed any time soon, said Shrestha.
He said it could realistically take anywhere from six months to a year to make a vaccine for the virus.