Intro: Better health begins at Tidelands Health. Dedicated to keeping the communities we serve healthy and active. That’s why we’re proud to present our podcast series, Better Health Radio, brought to you by Tidelands Health. Here’s Bill Klaproth.

Host: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic makes getting a flu shot even more important this year. So let's learn more with Dr. William Epperson, Medical Director of Primary Care at Tidelands Health. Dr. Epperson, thank you so much for your time. It's great to talk with you. So why is it so important that people protect themselves from the flu, especially this year?

Dr. William Epperson: Yes. Thank you. The Influenza is a very serious viral infection of the respiratory tract. Every year we have numerous patients who develop very severe illness and tens of thousands of Americans die of this each year. This year, we have a very different environment ongoing because we have the combination of influenza as well as COVID.

The coronavirus causing the COVID infection has overwhelmed so many hospitals throughout the world. And in America, we had a lot of challenges with this during the summer months. June, July, August, very concerning. We do not have the resources in America to handle the normal amount of flu cases that come to the hospital if we also were to add the same number of coronavirus patients with distress in the hospitals at the same time.

Host: So it sounds like what you're saying. If people don't protect themselves from the flu, this could overburden the hospital system and present yet another challenge for doctors, is that right?

Dr. William Epperson: That's correct. This could be very extreme. The incredible nurses and hospital staff are working unbelievable hours. The stories we hear about this are hard to imagine. It's almost like a war time and we have to understand that the physicians, the nurses, all the staff members of the hospital, had been so burdened by the coronavirus. The addition of influenza to the coronavirus that continues in the communities will have the hospitals—the staffing of the hospitals is the biggest key element. They don't have the personal resources to manage all these patients. And if we can keep the surge of flu patients from coming in to join the coronavirus patients that are already there., then we're going to have a much better season this winter as far as not overwhelming the hospital systems and will greatly change the number of people who die or have serious complications from influenza or corona.

Host: And we need to have a better season, that is so true. Let me ask you this, how does wearing a face masks and social distancing and practicing proper hand hygiene—How does that impact the spread of the spread of the flu?

Dr. William Epperson: Yes, we have data now from Chile. We looked at the Southern hemisphere before our Northern hemisphere flu season. And if we look at Australia and Chile in South America, Chile should have 20,000 people in the hospitals back in July, August for influenza and they're down to 1,000 patients. And the reason they believe that is, is because they've had a very strict adherence to social distancing and of course wearing face masks. And so those who have done this will greatly reduce the amount of influenza. And of course, they had a very strong campaign for the influenza shot. Vaccination is imperative to combine that with reducing exposure, by wearing a mask and social distancing.

Host: So it sounds like wearing a face mask, social distancing, using proper hand hygiene can help mitigate the spread of the flu. One of the other ways to do that is with a vaccine, but oftentimes I hear people not wanting to get the flu vaccine. Do you know why that is? Can you explain that to us?

Dr. William Epperson: There are so many different ideas about the flu shot.  There's so much false information that goes around that people will take in as the actual truth. As I tell patients, the flu shot does not contain any infectious element. It contains part of the influenza virus that will stimulate an immune response to protect the person who receives the flu shot.

Host: Well, that is a common myth that the flu shot gives you the flu. So thank you for debunking that Dr. Epperson. So is it true that the symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 are similar? And if someone presents with those similar symptoms, doesn't that make it even more challenging for you when it comes to diagnosis and treating the individual?  

Dr. William Epperson: Absolutely. It's more difficult this year to diagnose these types of illnesses. Both will have a fever. Fever is probably the number one symptom for both of these disease processes. Both influenza and COVID are respiratory viruses. So you're going to have head congestion, sore throat, cough, possible shortness of breath with the cough and pain in your chest is a common presentation.

Maybe one difference is, is influenza really does not affect the sense of taste and smell. And it is known that that happens in coronavirus patients, possibly around 20% of them will lose their sense of taste and smell at least temporarily.

Host: So the flu and COVID-19 together, this is a potential big mess. So if I'm hearing correctly from you, Dr. Epperson, you are really urging everyone to get a flu shot this year.

Dr. William Epperson: Yes, please. Everyone get a flu shot. Please know that if you were to have influenza, it is really bad. Patients can tell you when they had the flu 10-20 years ago. That sickness stays for weeks and you're in a state of just not good health. What if you catch coronavirus while you're in that state of not good health? Your consequences could be horrendous. What if you've had COVID and you're in a recovery phase of that, and you didn't get a flu shot, and then you got exposed to the flu and you caught influenza. We don't know a number to give you about that, but common sense tells me I don't want either one of them. And if I get both of them, my life’s in pretty grave danger.

Host: That's a really good point. If you get the flu, you're more susceptible to COVID-19. And we all know that if you have a suppressed immune system, chances are a COVID-19 infection can go from mild to severe to potentially even worse. So you don't want that to happen, is that correct? You really don't want your immune system compromised by getting the flu.  

Dr. William Epperson: Absolutely. And it’s the same sort of phenomenon you'll see with patients who are chronically ill with cancer that might be on chemotherapy or have severe diabetes-type problems or inflammatory diseases of the body. Their immune system is not what we would call as a normal immune system. And so a depressed immune system is always dangerous in the presence of a severe viral infection.

And if you have that depressed immune system, because you just got through beating up the influenza, or you just got through a bout of COVID. Then you're going to be in a state of grave danger. If something else comes on you and it doesn't even have to be influenza and corona. It could be respiratory syncytial virus. We have a large number of diseases out there that can affect one adversely. It doesn't even have to be either one of these. And so for safety sake right now, all we can do is a mask, hand-washing, social distance, get your flu shot. I pray that sometime next year and the foreseeable future we'll have an effective vaccine for the coronavirus. But at present that doesn't exist, so do everything you can as we travel this journey together.

Host: Well, that really makes sense. Well, thank you for wrapping this up for us in such a clear manner. Dr. Epperson, thank you for your time. This has been really informative.  

Dr. William Epperson: Yes. Thank you so much.

Host: That’s Dr. William Epperson and flu shots are readily available at Tidelands Health Family Medicine locations. To schedule an appointment for a flu shot, just call 1-866-TIDELANDS. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you.

This is Better Health Radio. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.