MINNEAPOLIS — Doctors are seeing a lot of colds and flu after a mild year in 2020.
Parents are telling us it seems worse than a normal year, with kids getting sick left and right.
So, we set out to find out if kids are getting sick more often this year, and here's what we found out.
Dr. Stacene Maroushek is a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Hennepin Healthcare.
She confirms, yes, at hospitals and clinics, they are seeing more cases of cold and flu this year.
But...
"Because of COVID we're screening them, so that’s why we’re seeing a lot of cases that we normally wouldn’t see,” Dr. Maroushek explains.
So, while they're seeing more cases, she says that's only because more parents are bringing the kids into the hospital and clinic to rule out COVID.
"I think it is just back to normal for us,” Dr. Maroushek says.
And after a not so normal year last year, normal may seem like a lot to us now.
"The average child under age three would get six to eight respiratory viruses a year. That's normal."
And here in Minnesota, Dr. Maroushek says most of those viruses pop up during the winter.
"Which if you do the math, that's a cold virus every three weeks and you get over one and another one starts,” Dr. Maroushek says.
Plus nowadays, thanks to COVID, a runny nose or a cough is a much bigger deal.
It could be a cold, or maybe it's COVID .
Kris Ehresmann with the Minnesota Department of Health says according to their numbers, the amount of sickness going around is comparable to a normal year.
But having the normal viruses on top of COVID, she understands why it can seem like a lot for parents and daycare providers who have been through a lot this year.
"Kind of going back to normal catches people's attention, because we really did have a year where everything was just COVID,” Ehresmann explains.
But going into the holidays, Dr. Maroushek doesn't think kids are any more at risk of the cold and flu compared to a normal pre-COVID year.
"I really don't think there is any increase in the virus. I think we're just more aware of what's going on."