As the number of cases of coronavirus surged, Colorado health officials put more emphasis on influenza.health

Health officials in Colorado and Denver are emphasizing vaccinations and preparations ahead of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the flu season that can exacerbate the stressful health care system that fights it.

The two illnesses, influenza and COVID-19, are both respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms. Cough, fever, sore throat, malaise. Both can be especially fatal to the elderly, and the flu season begins this month, as cases of coronavirus are skyrocketing in Colorado and elsewhere in the United States.

Mitigating this year’s influenza epidemic not only helps keep more coronas healthy, but also makes it easier to identify COVIDs in patients with overlapping symptoms, while at the same time due to potential COVID surges. Free up hospital space. In addition, testing someone for both influenza and COVID takes time, treatment is stalled, and resources that were scarce in the early stages of the pandemic, especially test supplies, are consumed. Vaccinations will simplify all that, officials said.

“Because the symptoms of COVID and flu are so similar, flu-like symptoms are more likely to run to get a COVID test, which can stress the supply and capacity of the COVID test.” Karen Miller, Immune Nurse Manager at Tri-County, said. public health. “This is great. We want people to be tested. We encourage it.” But Miller said that if vaccination could prevent the flu, the stress of testing resources would be stressful. Said it would be less. She pointed out that if a vaccinated person gets the flu, it is likely that the person is so mild that he or she does not need to be tested for COVID-19.

At a press conference earlier this month, Dr. Eric France, chief health officer of the State Department of Public Health and Environment, said 3,500 Colorado people were hospitalized for the flu last year.

“It’s a big problem for two respiratory viruses to hit us at the same time, just as two hurricanes hit us at the same time,” he said.

A “aggressive” approach to distributing vaccines is underway in Denver, said Dr. Judith Schrey, Deputy Director of Public Health in Denver, as a pandemic and familiar enemy to health care providers and patients. He said he would help avoid the two-front war.

She said Colorado has more influenza vaccinations for uninsured and uninsured people than ever before. This is a product of both the focus on influenza and the number of unemployed people and the approval of insurance in the last seven months.

At a press conference earlier this month, officials said the state health department had vaccinated nearly 294,000 more than the usual 5,000. There were also over 313,000 pediatric doses.

Schrey checked hotels, public schools, public health and business clinics, fire departments, Denver County prisons, and temporary shelters as places where Denver Public Health is subject to intensive vaccination. The hotel is important for the number of people who can pass through. Therefore, vaccination of staff there can have a significant impact. She states that about 45% of Denver are usually vaccinated against the flu, and that number is low within the color community.

“What we want to do is focus on the areas that have been hit hard by COVID, especially the color community, go there and vaccinate those people and make them available. Make it in the community of, “she said. ..

Dr. Margaret Huffman, director of community health services at Jefferson County Public Health, said her institution is also working to make vaccines “as easy as possible” for people.

Huffman and Schrey said the vaccine should be adequately supplied, even if demand increases. According to Schrey, the initial shortage was early, but it has been replenished. Miller said the order was returned in January and the manufacturer boosted production.

Distribution of these vaccines may provide a roadmap for how public health authorities will approach COVID-19 vaccination. Beyond the traditional settings of clinics and pharmacies, all non-traditional routes currently being explored, such as shelters, fire departments and schools, are important for the future distribution of vaccines to underserved areas. You can pave the way.

“I proposed an approach and approach to actually use the money to build the infrastructure, and a mechanism to vaccinate school children, adults and families with local influenza,” Schlei said. “Use it to learn how the spread of the COVID-19 vaccine can be more effective.”

It is difficult to predict the severity of the coming season. If there was one flu season, Huffman said, “I had one flu season.” In the Southern Hemisphere, the flu season is mild this year, Mayo Clinic flu expert told Scientific American He has never seen such a low price.

However, unlike the American flu season, which ended in the same way that the pandemic broke out, the Southern Hemisphere season overlapped with the pandemic, and various countries took steps to curb its spread. It is unclear whether the measures taken in Colorado, especially masking and social distance, will help keep prices low here as well.

“I think we look less if we follow the precautions we should be taking,” Schrey said. “The problem we’re seeing right now is the increase in COVID infections, some of which are called COVID fatigue. People are fed up with all these restrictions, but most of the community Is still needed because there is no immunity, and we do not have a vaccine. We must continue to maintain it. “