TOLEDO, Ohio —
As people get ready to gather around the table for Thanksgiving, they might have to gather the tissues and cough medicine.
"I think it's mostly because the seasons changing," medical director of the ProMedica Monroe Family Medicine Residency Center Christina Lucas-Vougiouklakis said. "We've gotten more rain. It's colder out."
Doctors are seeing a lot of patients come in with sinus infections and allergy symptoms, but not as many cases of COVID-19 or the flu.
"We haven't seen the surge or the peak that we're expecting," said James Tita, Mercy Health's chief clinical officer for the Toledo market. "Unfortunately, after the holidays, it's expected that that'll go way up as people stay indoors more, gather, travel, all of those things are risk factors."
Doctors said people should get ahead of whatever illness they encounter.
"The most important things are getting vaccinated, washing your hands," Tita said. "When you're in situations, especially if you're at high risk, we would recommend masking."
Lucas-Vougiouklakis said people should take care of their overall health, too.
"We do not hydrate well enough," she said. " When that happens, and when we're not getting enough sleep and movement, we tend to have increased stressors on our body, and weather change is a big stress."
If someone does start to come down with something, she says there are a few symptoms people should take seriously and potentially go to the emergency room for:
"The big bad ugly stuff. Short of breath, high fever above 102 and 103 degrees that's not responding to Tylenol or Motrin."
Other symptoms people should monitor include difficulty hearing. When people get sinus infections, there can be a buildup of fluid behind the eardrum, but this should eventually drain as congestion decreases.
If symptoms continue to persist, people should monitor them and use their judgment to know when to see a doctor.
"When in doubt, get checked out," Lucas-Vougiouklakis said.