Guthrie County and across Iowa saw an increase in winter time illnesses, and Guthrie County Health Services Director Jotham Arber says that the season was pretty rough.

Arber mentions that Covid continued throughout the season, along with illnesses like RSV, colds and the flu. He adds that RSV hit youth fairly hard, with 300-400 cases per week across the state during the peak season. Arber tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the flu was another heavy hitter this winter.

“We were looking at flu numbers that we hadn’t seen in almost five years. So when we look at flu numbers and tracking all that kind of stuff, we rely heavily on data coming from our clinics and our outpatient settings. And so going into that last week of November and beginning week of February, we saw that numbers were increased by 26% from the previous year’s. And that just means that in any given case, we were looking at (a) total number of flu numbers that were up significantly.”

Arber states that current numbers are much lower than earlier, but are still around, so residents should still be doing what they can to prevent illnesses. He adds that cases of strep throat have also been diagnosed and are in higher numbers than the other illnesses. Arber advises that anyone who feels sick should check with their doctor, or stay home to rest and recuperate.