01 Jul 2020

There is generally a decline in flu or common cold cases this winter season. 

During winter season most people are usually attacked by common cold.

Dr Tuelo Ntwaagae of Meriting Medical Centre said although there was no surveillance report, he had observed a decline in flu cases.

Dr Ntwaagae, who is a general practitioner, said they had received few patients with flu- related symptoms, adding that even home calls had been few as compared to the same period in the past years.

Dr Ntwaagae revealed that the flu virus was common in winter,  but perceived that the decline in flu cases was due COVID-19 health protocols.

He mentioned that preventive health measures such as  frequent hand-washing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask when going out in public, could have helped to reduce the chances of contracting flu.

In addition, he said the other reason could be that less people were coming forth with flu symptoms for fear of being suspected of coronavirus,  which might ultimately lead to quarantine.

“Generally after lockdown, people are scared to visit clinics,” he said, adding that they thought of the potential COVID-19 had and that it was easily transmitted.

He said such fears lead people to resorting to home remedies of drinking hot water with lemon and ginger for such symptoms as fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, mild headache, sneezing.

He however encouraged people to seek medical help whenever they had flu symptoms.

Regarding the flu shot, Dr Ntwaagae said there had not been a significant administration of the vaccine.

He said Batswana in general were not aware of the flu vaccine and the few that took it were not regular in getting vaccinated.

He therefore said the flu vaccine could not be counted as to have reduced the chances of getting seasonal flu, especially that the vaccine was also not adequate in the country.

He urged people to continue exercising measures against COVID-19, saying the frequent and thorough hand-washing, wearing of masks, not touching one’s face, coughing and sneezing into a tissue or elbow, avoiding sick people and staying away from people when one was sick also helped to curb the spread of the flu virus. 

Furthermore, he advised people to stay at home if they felt unwell with fever, cough and had difficulty breathing, as well as seek medical attention and call in for an advance from health authorities. BOPA