Harvard experts counsel connected vaccination, ventilation, and other attraction for those who request it most.
As we stitchery for the holidays this year, it’s omniscient to enactment that spotlight-hogging COVID-19 is not the lone microorganism circulating: the flu, RSV, and different culprits are good capable to origin superior illness, oregon worse, among young and aged alike. We asked Harvard experts to stock their tips connected ways to support everyone healthy, and person edited their responses lightly for clarity.
Vaccination
Kristin Moffitt, MD
Pediatric infectious illness specialist, Boston Children’s Hospital
Assistant prof of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Start with the children: It’s truthful important that infants and children are up to day connected regular immunizations. Vaccine-preventable infections specified arsenic measles and polio person been capable to re-emerge successful caller years due to the fact that vaccination rates person fallen beneath the threshold needed to support these infections from being capable to circulate. Everyone older than 6 months is eligible for flu and COVID vaccines, which partially trim the accidental of becoming infected, and importantly trim the likelihood of getting severely sick from these infections.
Across the US, children’s hospitals, including exigency departments and inpatient units, are nether important strain close present fixed the precocious measurement of respiratory infections circulating successful our communities. Reducing terrible unwellness via vaccination would assistance sphere these resources for diseases that cannot beryllium prevented by vaccines.
Involve the adults: Respiratory viruses — the flu, COVID, and RSV — tin dispersed precise efficiently wrong households. The much household members who are up to day connected disposable flu and COVID vaccines, the little the chances of introducing those viruses into a household.
The aforesaid applies to gatherings of families and friends. People with a compromised immune system, aesculapian conditions similar diabetes oregon obesity that enactment them astatine accrued hazard for terrible infection, oregon infants excessively young to beryllium immunized are peculiarly susceptible to these infections. Vaccination of the radical they travel into adjacent interaction with helps support them arsenic good arsenic the idiosyncratic who gets vaccinated.
Ventilation
Joseph Allen, DSc, MPH, DIH
Associate professor, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Director, Harvard Healthy Buildings Program
Improve ventilation for indoor gatherings: It each starts with recognizing COVID-19 and different airborne diseases similar flu dispersed indoors successful places with mediocre ventilation. If we commencement there, it’s easier to spot elemental steps we tin take. Think ventilation, dilution, and filtration. For example, we tin assistance dilute the microorganism done ventilation simply by opening up a window, and we tin assistance filter retired respiratory particles of microorganism by utilizing a portable aerial purifier with a HEPA filter.
Most radical won’t get sick connected airplanes: Really. When airplane systems are running, they connection fantabulous ventilation and filtration. Think astir this: successful a surgical suite [where experts enactment to trim the likelihood of infection], determination are astir 12 aerial changes per hour; successful an airplane [with ventilation systems running], determination are 20 aerial changes an hour.
During boarding and aft landing, this strategy is not ever running. So, if you’re acrophobic astir getting sick during aerial travel, deterioration a high-grade disguise during boarding and erstwhile disembarking. All masks help, but each masks are not created equal: if you’re acrophobic astir getting sick oregon are immunocompromised, deterioration a high-grade disguise similar an N95, KN95, oregon KF94 that fits good implicit the span of your chemoreceptor and is snug on the cheeks and chin. I personally consciousness precise comfy taking disconnected my disguise during the flight.
Extra attraction for those who request it
Suzanne E. Salamon, MD
Associate Chief, Geriatric Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Assistant prof of medicine, Harvard Medical School
COVID isn’t done yet: There are galore opinions retired there, but I deliberation it’s a mistake to deliberation we’re done. There are inactive 300 COVID deaths each time successful this country. As a geriatrician who treats older patients, I’ve gotten much calls successful caller months from radical who crook up affirmative for COVID than I ever retrieve getting.
So galore radical archer maine that they’re sick of each this, they conscionable privation to get backmost to surviving life. I get it. But erstwhile I perceive astir getting unneurotic with 20 radical coming from each implicit the country, household and friends with antithetic vaccination statuses and antithetic disguise rules, I deliberation there’s a precocious accidental idiosyncratic is going to get COVID.
Take precautions, peculiarly astir susceptible people: I person successful my household my 100-year-old mother, who lives with us, and a 4-month-old granddaughter I spot often. So I americium highly cautious and instrumentality a much blimpish attack than many. Get vaccinated — and recognize that it takes a fewer weeks for vaccines to scope their afloat potential. Take a COVID trial earlier you get astatine a gathering. Even repeated tests are not 100% reliable, of course, truthful if you person immoderate symptoms of a cough oregon cold, it's safest to skip it. If you determine to spell anyway, deterioration a high-grade disguise to assistance support others. Sit acold distant from much susceptible radical and instrumentality disconnected your disguise lone erstwhile eating.
Quick hugs are okay, it seems, arsenic agelong arsenic you person nary symptoms. While we tin bask being together, tiny gatherings are best.
English (US)