ATLANTA — Georgia is experiencing a "high" level of flu activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's in addition to other illnesses spreading, like RSV and COVID-19.
"Nothing new or out of the ordinary, but we're in winter. A lot of things are circulating, viruses and bacteria," CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen said. "You want to make sure you're taking care of yourself."
Cohen urged people to seek help as soon as they start feeling sick this holiday season. Treatment can prevent a sickness from developing into something more serious.
"You want to be tested because we do have treatment to treat flu and COVID-19 and pneumonia," she said. "You want to make sure that you're getting treatment early on. That way you get treatment and treatment could save your life."
There are also vaccines and immunizations available for COVID-19, flu and RSV.
"For the first time in history, we do have an RSV immunization for our babies, but it is in limited supply," she said. "We just released another 70,000. We expect more in the coming weeks so there will be more."
She recommended for parents to call their child's pediatrician to see if there are more doses available with the latest shipments.
"For a vaccine, it takes about two weeks to be fully protected, but your body is starting to make antibodies from the time that you get your vaccine," Cohen said. "It's not too late if you're thinking ahead to traveling for Christmas."
That's especially important as these respiratory illnesses continue to spread.
"I want to make sure Georgians have heard from me that they're at some of the lowest levels of vaccination in the country here," she said. "We are seeing near peak levels of RSV circulating."
"We're seeing flu season well underway and increasing and we're still seeing COVID-19 in Georgia," she said.
Read more about vaccinations on the CDC's website.