John Laurence usually can power through a cold and still go to his real estate office, but last week’s “super cold” was different.
“I’ve had bad colds before but I never experienced anything like this,” said Laurence, who had such tremendous sinus pressure it made him dizzy. Laurence, 58, of Davie, says he couldn’t drive and he missed several days of work. Almost two weeks later, he now has an earache. “The worst of it is over, but I still have it.”
Cold and flu season has begun and South Florida already is reeling from a virus — not COVID-19 — that is giving people runny noses, sinus infections, headaches, fatigue, coughs, sore throats, and nausea. Masks are off, snowbirds have arrived, social gatherings have resumed and South Floridians’ immune systems are being hit hard in a way they haven’t been in years.
“They are coming in with symptoms that look like COVID or the flu but people are testing negative for both,” said Dr. Jeffrey Collins, chief medical officer at MD Now Urgent Care, which has 60 locations in South Florida.
Scientists have dismissed talk of the “super cold,” also described as “the worst cold ever” that began cropping up in the UK earlier this fall. They believe people more likely are being hit hard by regular colds because of a lack of immunity and exposure to strains over the past 18 months.
South Florida residents typically have a degree of immunity from the previous winter, but this year there isn’t that protection. “Last winter, folks were masked and socially distanced and were paying attention to touching,” said Dr. Kelli Tice, Florida Blue’s senior medical director of medical affairs. “You remove those behaviors, bring people in close contact, and they start to share other viruses. That’s what we are seeing.”
Tice says “super cold” describes how people are experiencing their viral infections. “They are sicker than they have been in a long time.”
Sixty-one-year-old Earl Ross, of Fort Lauderdale, said he is still recovering after more than a week of feeling rotten. Although he had a stuffy nose and cough, the worst part for him was the heavy head. “At first I thought it was allergies but it wasn’t. My system is strong but it was one of the most severe colds I have had.”
Ross’ COVID test came back negative, and he finally went to the doctor who prescribed an antibiotic for his sinus infection. “I still don’t feel like myself,” he said. “l have a cough that persists.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that cases of the common respiratory virus and human parainfluenza viruses are on the rise — as is respiratory syncytial virus (R.S.V.) which had previously been seen mostly in children.
Managing your symptoms
Collins at MDNow said most of the viruses circulating can be managed at home with fluids, rest and over-the-counter medications. “What happens with a bad viral infection is you are sick a few days, and you think you are better and then ‘wham!’ you are much worse,” he said. “You get a secondary bacterial infection, complicating the viral infection and that’s when an antibiotic helps.”
Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, chief of general medicine at the University of Miami Health System, said around three weeks ago he caught the virus going around. “I got very sick,” he said. “I was weak with a low-grade fever and I felt generally bad for a couple of days.” He managed to get better with rest.
Carrasquillo, 54, said the challenge this year is knowing if you have COVID-19, a cold, the flu or seasonal allergies. A change in smell or taste and severe shortness of breath is an indicator of COVID. But body aches, sore throats or headaches can be the common cold or the flu.
Health experts warn against self-diagnosing, saying if you have the flu, you want to know early on to lessen the severity of symptoms and shorten the recovery time by taking Xofluza, or Tamiflu, antiviral flu medications. A flu test done by a medical professional with a swab can give you results in 15 minutes.
“We are pushing hard with everyone to get the flu vaccine so at least they can eliminate that infection,” said Elyse Roelans, a family nurse practitioner at CVS Minute Clinic inside Target in Davie. Roelans said because symptoms are similar, her clinic wants patients to get tested for COVID before they come in. “If you have fever or body aches we will test you for flu. The big difference is a rapid onset of symptoms. With a cold, you gradually get worse. With the flu, you were fine yesterday and today you woke up feeling like death.”
The Florida angle
Protecting yourself isn’t complicated, medical professionals say. It requires eating well, getting enough sleep and washing your hands regularly and wearing a mask in crowds, not just to protect against COVID but also from the other viruses circulating.
In Florida, where COVID transmissions are low at this time, people of all ages have dropped some of the precautions they had been taking during the summer surge. Collins at MDNow said precautions actually are more important this winter in Florida, where tourists have returned for winter. “We all know what happens when people come from all other parts of the country and the world. They bring what they have with them.”
Health officials are worried about what lies ahead for Florida as it will be the first year both COVID and the flu will circulate at the same time — and flu season is just beginning.
Tice at Florida Blue said now is the time to get your health on track. Get your flu vaccine, manage your stress, manage any chronic conditions and “give yourself the best chance of avoiding serious illness.”
Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.
