Transcription:
Flu and Covid in the Same Year

Scott Webb: Today, we have Dr. Daniel Terryberry joining us. He's a primary care physician from Outer Banks Family Medicine in Kitty Hawk, and the Medical Director of Occupational Health for the Vidant Health System. He's going to talk to you about flu season in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is Outer Banks Health. I'm Scott Webb.

So Dr. Terryberry, thanks so much for joining me. Before we get started here, tell us a little bit about yourself. 

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Well, I’m presently practicing in a family practice setting in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, as well as, I’m the Medical Director of Occupational Health for all of, Vidant, which is the large medical system here in Northeastern, North Carolina. And, I’ve got five daughters. 

Scott Webb: Wow. Five daughters. I only have one.  What's that like exactly? How much bathroom time does Dr. Terryberry get at home? 

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: We don't have enough time to talk about that one. 

Scott Webb: Yeah, I hear you. So let's start with the main reason you're here today. How do we tell the difference between cold, flu and COVID-19?

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Well, that's the trouble as all three of them have overlapping symptoms. They can share all these symptoms. It's just the severity and some of the specifics that I guess I can get into. But with a cold, it's a viral infection usually of the nose and throat and upper airway. It's also caused by what's known as a coronavirus, not the one we're going to be talking about COVID-19, which is a new one, but usually the symptoms of a runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, sinus congestion, some post-nasal drip and you know, low fever. But you don't really feel ill. It's more of an aggravation. 

And then flu certainly, can go the spectrum of mild to severe cases. But the difference with the flu is it's in the lower respiratory tract and it is a sudden onset. I mean the old saying they come in, "I feel like I've been hit by a truck" and they kind of look it as well. That's really the big thing with the flu and also fairly high fever, a fever of 101 to 103. And they too will get the constitutional symptoms of sore throat, headache, quite a bit of body aches and fatigue, weakness, et cetera. And a cough, it's usually minimally productive. That's the bigger difference. The other thing with the flu is this usually occurs about one to three days after exposure, is when most of the onset of symptoms are.

And with COVID-19, it's quite different in that it, it takes almost five to six days after exposure for people to manifest symptoms. However, there's been well studied cases to show that people can get the symptoms as soon as two days and some oftentimes as late as 14 days, which is why the quarantine is 14 days. Usually, it's a dry cough, fever, chills, sore throat, headache, body aches. And some people have some diarrhea. 

Some people have obviously worst cases of this where they become short of breath or whatever. One of the big things, although it doesn't happen to everyone, but it is almost a certainty that they have, COVID is the loss of taste and smell. They get up, they're brushing their teeth and they can't taste their toothpaste. Then they have the coffee and they can't taste that. And that's pretty much a sign, especially after if they've had an exposure, et cetera, and they have some of these other constitutional symptoms that it could highly be likely that it's COVID. 

But both flu and COVID unfortunately they can cause a deadly pneumonia. And that's the big concern. What I would say is the biggest thing to prevent it, washing your hands, don't touch your face, use your mask, avoid large indoor gatherings. And, probably the other thing to reassure people is the access to rapid testing, try to get tested. So if you have concern, become tested, 

Scott Webb: So let's talk about the flu shot. Some people think it gives you the flu, which of course isn't true. And I'm betting you recommend that we all get the flu shot.

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Absolutely. And there's a tremendous amount of thought with some tremendous minds goes into developing the flu vaccine every year. And, the flu, unfortunately it mutates and there's different strains. And so we have to make an educated assumption or guess as to which strains will be most likely to be coming through this year and we make the vaccine accordingly. We've been very successful and sometimes not as successful, but clearly we know that even if one does get the flu,  after having received the flu vaccine, their symptoms and the extent of the disease is less, but it also clearly is shown to prevent a lot of flu infections 

Scott Webb: And doctor, besides masking, distancing, washing our hands and getting the flu shot, what else could we do to just stay healthier? 

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Bottom-line is we have to take care of ourselves and we do that with the right diet, managing our weight, not overeating, not under eating either, but that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem with Americans, but just keeping a healthy exercise routine. And if you can't get out, there's still plenty of things you can do right in the house without having to even leave the home to still keep yourself healthy and managing your weight.

The other thing is a lot of burning the midnight oil and getting up early and not getting enough sleep. People don't talk about that much, but getting a decent night's sleep, goes a long way in helping you be able to defend yourself against the onslaught of these viruses.   Obviously, other things, just moderation. Obviously, smoking is a bad one. It really doesn't go well. And alcohol in moderation is okay, but overdoing it on that end, doesn’t help either. So I think the bottom-line is if you're trying to, exercise, eat right, take care of yourself, get some sleep, those are some big lifestyle changes.

Scott Webb: One of things we've learned about COVID-19 is that those suffering from obesity are at higher risk. Why is that?

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Well, obesity is a system-wide issue. So we not only just see it in the mirror, but it also affects your immune system and affects your cardiovascular system. Clearly, it affects your pancreas and your ability to regulate your sugars. Also, the adrenal gland responds differently to different cortisol levels. So your response to a stressor has been blunted. And so those are the big ones with the obesity. 

Scott Webb: Anything else, Dr. Terryberry, you'd like to tell people in regards to cold, flu, COVID? Any other advice you can offer? 

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Just be aware. Wash your hands, don't touch your face. And, I see a lot of, mask inappropriate use. People think that just that they have a mask on and they're fine, but you know that I see them, you know, touching some object, some nasty object or a door knob, and then immediately grabbing their mask and then rubbing their face. 

I think that's part of the reason why mask use and personal protective equipment work so well in the healthcare system. So you would keep your hands clean, adjust your mask, and then wash them again. And if you're going to touch something before you touch your face or your mask, make sure you wash your hands again.

Scott Webb: Great advice doctor. I sanitize before and after I put my mask on and I really try to avoid touching my face, which of course we all do about a hundred times a day. It's been great having you on, Dr. Terryberry, and you stay well.

Dr. Daniel Terryberry: Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. 

Scott Webb: For more information on upcoming free Drive-Thru to Fight The Flu events, visit the OBH.com/events.

And for an appointment with the Outer Banks Hospital center for Healthy Living, contact (252) 449-5978. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the entire podcast library for additional topics. This is Outer Banks Health. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well.