Health professional gives insight to summertime cold season

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Everyone thinks of the cold season being fall or winter, but there really is a summer cold that goes around.

HealthPoint’s Director of Nursing, Amanda Dominguez, says that as travel increases, germs do too.

“People are traveling, people are getting on planes, they’re riding buses, they’re getting into lines at amusement parks and they’re in close proximity to other people. We are seeing a lot of people who are traveling, intermingling with other people, and just picking up their germs,” she said.

The symptoms that are apparent are flu-like as one might have a fever, stuffy nose, cough, or general aches and pains. Dominguez says that if symptoms do not improve within 48-72 hours, it is recommended that you see a doctor.

Some good practices in order to keep symptoms at bay are washing your hands and staying home if you’re sick.

Dominguez quoted HealthPoint’s Chief Medical Officer, Adil Nicolwala.

He says that “the best way of preventing the spread of the cold virus is handwashing, sneezing and coughing into your elbow, and wearing a mask in public so that you don’t spread your germs to other people.”

Dominguez mentions other factors that could be contributing to these cold-like symptoms including the Sahara Dust and the Canadian Wildfires that have affected the surrounding air quality, which could be irritating our respiratory system. She even mentioned that these symptoms could just be allergies.

“The Brazos Valley is known for being an allergy bowl, as I always like to tell many people that move here,’ said Dominguez

As the summer cold season is upon us, it is recommended that you watch the Texas Health and Human Services website as they have an updated report each week of influenza cases in the area.