With cold, flu, COVID and RSV season here, Cambridge doctor offers tips to stay healthy

As cooler weather approaches, most people know cold and flu season is close behind.

But this year, Dr. Mekalai Kumanan of Cambridge says people need to also be prepared that they could fall ill from COVID, with a new EG.5 Omicron subvariant circulating, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Kumanan, who is president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, joined CBC Kitchener-Waterloo’s The Morning Edition to speak with host Craig Norris about what people should expect this winter and what they can do to stay healthy.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. The audio of the interview can be found at the bottom of this article.

Host Craig Norris: There is a new COVID variant circulating. How worried should we be about that?

Dr. Mekalai Kumanan: I think when we are approaching the fall, what we’re expecting is to see a rise in respiratory infections in general. 

We know that we’re already seeing that uptick in the latest variance of COVID, but we’re also expecting that we’re going to see some of the usual viruses that we tend to see at this time of year like influenza, RSV as well as some of the normal cough and cold viruses that we see. 

So family physicians across Ontario, as we always do, we are ready to support our patients to help them stay healthy and also to help them to manage if they do develop respiratory symptoms.

Norris: Is there a sense that with RSV and the flu and COVID that this could be a worse than usual or an unprecedented winter?

Kumanan: It’s hard to say. We’ve seen over the past number of years that as we head into the fall, we tend to see that uptick especially as more people are heading indoors.

There are a number of things that we can do to try to prevent illness and stay healthy and we have a number of tips that we pulled together through the Ontario College of Family Physicians for people to learn about the best ways to stay healthy and prevent infection.

That’s at: stayhealthyontario.ca.

Norris: Since we’re not doing the same level of COVID testing as we once were, will we know how much of a problem COVID actually is this winter?

Kumanan: It would be important for those, particularly those people who are highest risk for severe complications from COVID, to really look at getting tested if they do become symptomatic. 

But I would actually take a few steps back and say for our highest risk patients, it’s important to just be prepared and have a plan in place if you do become unwell and that could be a conversation with your family doctor to sort of look at what would you do if you became unwell.

The reason we recommend that is because we know that many of our treatments that we would look at for both COVID and influenza need to be started within a short time frame of symptom onset. 

So for those patients in particular, we would recommend having that plan in place and we do know that the rapid tests that we previously used will be made available again to the general public through some of the family physician offices as well as some pharmacies and our public health units.

Norris: In a virtually post-mask world — I still see some out there, but for the most part I don’t see a lot of masks — how do we stay healthy this fall in winter from COVID and those other respiratory illnesses?

Kumanan: I think the first thing is to ensure that we are up-to-date with our vaccines and that we get the vaccines that are available to us. 

We know that every fall we offer flu shots for everybody and we’re expecting those will be available to the general public come October. We also know that our newest COVID vaccine that helps to protect against the latest variant was just approved by Health Canada, so likely within a matter of weeks that we’ll see that available.

Typically when we’re thinking about preventing illness, we really want to take a layered approach, so [it’s] important to stay up to date with your vaccines, we know masking is a really important way to help decrease the spread of viruses, particularly if you’re going into indoor crowded spaces. 

Then we want to think about things like washing our hands and staying at home if you do become unwell so that you limit the spread of infection to others.

Norris: And can you just talk about children. They’re especially vulnerable in schools. They’re in enclosed spaces. Any advice for parents to keep their kids relatively healthy?

Kumanan: I think for most respiratory infections we know that they can be safely managed at home and those kids who aren’t high risk will be able to manage these infections at home with getting enough rest, staying home when they’re unwell, drinking lots of fluids and then using pain and fever medications as needed. 

Really what we want to think about is: when would it be important to see your family doctor. So that would be if you have worsening symptoms or if your child’s not really eating or drinking as well as typical.

Norris: And talk a bit about the importance of offering the flu shot at the same time as that new COVID shot?

Kumanan: We can safely take the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time.

I think more than anything rather than having to space them out and delay getting vaccinated, it’s just a really convenient way to get up to date for both of those vaccines in order to protect yourself.

Norris: Is it going to be rolled out that way in Canada, do we know?

Kumanan: I think it will depend on where you’re receiving those vaccines. Some pharmacies, as an example, may have both the COVID and flu vaccine available and it’s really just going to depend on where you’re getting those vaccines.

Norris: And let’s say someone does end up getting COVID. How do they know whether they should take the step to actually seek treatment?

Kumanan: For most patients who are higher risk — we think about those who have an underlying medical issue such as lung disease, heart disease or patients who are over the age of 60 who may be at higher risk of complications — for those patients, again, important to have that conversation with your family physician in advance about, if I do become unwell, what are the steps that I need to take to make sure that I’m getting what I need and in particular it may mean considering treatment which does require for COVID a positive test. 

I think it would be important to have that conversation with your family doctor and have a really clear plan in place.

LISTEN | Dr. Mekalai Kumanan on how to stay healthy this winter:

The Morning Edition – K-W7:19Winter brings more than cold and flu season this year and people need to prepare, Cambridge doctor says

Colder weather usually signals cold and flu season, but this year, Dr. Mekalai Kumanan says people need to also remember COVID continues to circulate, as does respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Kumanan, a doctor from Cambridge and president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, offers advice on how to stay healthy.