\n\t\t\t\t\t\tYou might have noticed it at work or from your children at school: a surge in the number of people calling out sick. As we near the end of flu season, what\u2019s causing this? WGAL anchors Lori Burkholder and Tasmin Mahfuz spoke to Dr. Peter Kang, associate medical director with UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care, about what’s going around. Full interviewWGAL anchors: First of all, let\u2019s talk about what you\u2019re seeing in urgent care right now and the types of illnesses you\u2019re seeing.Dr. Peter Kang: Thank you for having me. In urgent care right now, specifically at UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care, we\u2019re really seeing three major viruses driving a lot of recent visits: COVID-19, RSV, and influenza.WGAL anchors: So, a little bit of everything. Is it too late for people to go out and get a flu shot right now? It\u2019s weird to think about that in March. Usually you think October or November. What do you recommend now?Dr. Peter Kang: Absolutely not. If you have not received your 2025 flu shot yet, I would encourage you to get it. It is the most effective way to prevent severe consequences of the flu. Interestingly, while we saw a huge spike of influenza A during January, we are now seeing a slight increase in influenza B cases, which is driving some visits to the centers.WGAL anchors: I guess it\u2019s sort of always around, though we tend to think about it in the winter months. But the CDC says flu activity is still elevated across the nation. Even though it\u2019s starting to ease a little bit in a lot of places, including in our state, it doesn\u2019t mean these viruses are gone. So how do you explain that to viewers?Dr. Peter Kang: One of the challenges we\u2019ve seen is the unpredictability in weather. We\u2019ve had some warm days, but we\u2019ve also had some cold days. When we have those cold days, we tend to congregate inside together. And when you gather indoors, that creates a great environment for spreading respiratory diseases.WGAL anchors: Yeah, like incubating it all. So when should someone actually go to the doctor versus saying, ‘I can just stay home, drink fluids, and rest.’ How do you differentiate between the two?Dr. Peter Kang: If you\u2019re otherwise healthy, staying at home and resting is probably your best bet. But if you\u2019re not feeling better after a week, I do encourage you to see a doctor. However, if you are under the age of 2, elderly, or have a condition that may compromise your immune system, you\u2019ll want to see a doctor as soon as possible. We do have effective medications we can use against influenza and COVID-19 that can reduce the severity of symptoms. If you\u2019re in one of those patient populations, you\u2019ll want to seek treatment as quickly as possible.WGAL anchors: The key there, Dr. Kang, is getting attention right away. Do you advise that if you\u2019re starting to feel these symptoms, you should take one of those at-home tests from the drugstore?Dr. Peter Kang: Absolutely. You can get those tests at one of our urgent care centers or even at your primary care doctor\u2019s office. If that\u2019s not available to you, then yes, there are several over-the-counter tests you can get at a pharmacy that can help.WGAL anchors: So what should people do right now to protect themselves? I know washing your hands is important. Any other advice?Dr. Peter Kang: The general hygiene we always recommend includes washing your hands, wiping down high-contact surfaces at work or at home, covering your mouth when you cough, and generally practicing good hand hygiene. It\u2019s easy to get lax this time of year because you think you\u2019re sort of out of the woods, but it\u2019s always good to pay attention to those warning signs and to protect others if you\u2019re sick.WGAL anchors: Dr. Kang, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate your time.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
You might have noticed it at work or from your children at school: a surge in the number of people calling out sick. <\/p>\n
As we near the end of flu season, what\u2019s causing this? <\/p>\n
WGAL anchors Lori Burkholder and Tasmin Mahfuz spoke to Dr. Peter Kang, associate medical director with UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care, about what’s going around. <\/p>\n
Full interview<\/p>\n
WGAL anchors:<\/strong> First of all, let\u2019s talk about what you\u2019re seeing in urgent care right now and the types of illnesses you\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Kang:<\/strong> Thank you for having me. In urgent care right now, specifically at UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care, we\u2019re really seeing three major viruses driving a lot of recent visits: COVID-19, RSV, and influenza.<\/p>\n WGAL anchors<\/strong><\/strong>:<\/strong><\/strong> So, a little bit of everything. Is it too late for people to go out and get a flu shot right now? It\u2019s weird to think about that in March. Usually you think October or November. What do you recommend now?<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Kang:<\/strong> Absolutely not. If you have not received your 2025 flu shot yet, I would encourage you to get it. It is the most effective way to prevent severe consequences of the flu. Interestingly, while we saw a huge spike of influenza A during January, we are now seeing a slight increase in influenza B cases, which is driving some visits to the centers.<\/p>\n WGAL anchors: <\/strong>I guess it\u2019s sort of always around, though we tend to think about it in the winter months. But the CDC says flu activity is still elevated across the nation. Even though it\u2019s starting to ease a little bit in a lot of places, including in our state, it doesn\u2019t mean these viruses are gone. So how do you explain that to viewers?<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Kang:<\/strong> One of the challenges we\u2019ve seen is the unpredictability in weather. We\u2019ve had some warm days, but we\u2019ve also had some cold days. When we have those cold days, we tend to congregate inside together. And when you gather indoors, that creates a great environment for spreading respiratory diseases.<\/p>\n WGAL anchors: <\/strong>Yeah, like incubating it all. So when should someone actually go to the doctor versus saying, ‘I can just stay home, drink fluids, and rest.’ How do you differentiate between the two?<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Kang:<\/strong> If you\u2019re otherwise healthy, staying at home and resting is probably your best bet. But if you\u2019re not feeling better after a week, I do encourage you to see a doctor. However, if you are under the age of 2, elderly, or have a condition that may compromise your immune system, you\u2019ll want to see a doctor as soon as possible. We do have effective medications we can use against influenza and COVID-19 that can reduce the severity of symptoms. If you\u2019re in one of those patient populations, you\u2019ll want to seek treatment as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n WGAL anchors:<\/strong> The key there, Dr. Kang, is getting attention right away. Do you advise that if you\u2019re starting to feel these symptoms, you should take one of those at-home tests from the drugstore?<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Kang:<\/strong> Absolutely. You can get those tests at one of our urgent care centers or even at your primary care doctor\u2019s office. If that\u2019s not available to you, then yes, there are several over-the-counter tests you can get at a pharmacy that can help.<\/p>\n WGAL anchors: <\/strong>So what should people do right now to protect themselves? I know washing your hands is important. Any other advice?<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Kang:<\/strong> The general hygiene we always recommend includes washing your hands, wiping down high-contact surfaces at work or at home, covering your mouth when you cough, and generally practicing good hand hygiene. It\u2019s easy to get lax this time of year because you think you\u2019re sort of out of the woods, but it\u2019s always good to pay attention to those warning signs and to protect others if you\u2019re sick.<\/p>\n WGAL anchors: <\/strong>Dr. Kang, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate your time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You might have noticed it at work or from your children at school: a surge in the number…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":667878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[282256,282257,282258,282259,16460,282260,128094,4140,9223,282268,22170,282261,47180,136240,117711,282262,210,316,40513,282263,47179,154319,232769,7088,282271,3546,282270,282264,101352,90630,282265,282266,67,132,56854,282269,68,13203,51644,282267,8066],"class_list":["post-667877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-2025-flu-vaccine","tag-antiviral-treatment","tag-at-home-tests","tag-calling-out-sick","tag-cdc","tag-children-under-2","tag-cold-weather","tag-covid-19","tag-doctor","tag-dr-peter-kang","tag-elderly","tag-elevated-flu-activity","tag-flu","tag-flu-season","tag-flu-shot","tag-hand-washing","tag-health","tag-home","tag-immune-system","tag-indoor-spread","tag-influenza","tag-influenza-a","tag-influenza-b","tag-lot","tag-other-advicedr","tag-people","tag-recent-visit","tag-respiratory-disease-transmission","tag-respiratory-illnesses","tag-rsv","tag-seasonal-viruses","tag-symptom-severity","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-urgent-care","tag-urgent-care-visit","tag-us","tag-virus","tag-wgal","tag-when-to-see-a-doctor","tag-work"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}