Jeffries says surveillance is detecting flu, the SARS-CoV2 Covid virus, common cold viruses rhinovirus and adenovirus, and RSV.<\/p>\n
The change in seasons can feel sudden \u2013 does this contribute to the increased levels of sickness?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite complex, but it\u2019s a mixture of what people have planned in their social calendars \u2013 and some of that is influenced by the weather \u2013 and work and school holidays affect it as well,\u201d Jeffries says.<\/p>\n
While several viruses are being detected, Covid-19 is currently \u201cthe main one of interest\u201d, she says, though it\u2019s common to see both a summer and a winter increase in cases.<\/p>\n
How do I know what virus I have?<\/p>\n
Epidemiologist Michael Baker says it can be tricky to tell if you have a cold, the flu or Covid-19, as \u201cmost of the symptoms do overlap\u201d. <\/p>\n
Common symptoms of Covid-19, flu, the common cold and RSV include a cough, sore throat and a runny or stuffy nose. <\/p>\n
Brain fog is one distinct feature of Covid-19, as is the loss of taste and smell. <\/p>\n
\u201cFour of the viruses that cause the cold are coronaviruses, so [that effect on smell and taste] is one of the only features that\u2019s really distinctive to coronaviruses.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is the ongoing impact of Covid-19 in New Zealand?<\/p>\n
The winter cold and flu season lasts about six months \u2013 from April to September, while Covid-19 is still a \u201cnovel infection\u201d in humans and is yet to settle into a seasonal pattern.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s … causing two waves a year, and it\u2019s not seasonal. These waves, if anything, have occurred more often in the warmer six months of the year than the colder six months,\u201d Baker says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may eventually settle into a more predictable pattern, it\u2019s possible it will become seasonal, but we just don\u2019t know how long that will take.\u201d <\/p>\n
Before Covid-19, influenza was the most serious infectious disease in New Zealand, killing on average 500 people a year and causing 1% of all deaths annually. Now, Baker says, Covid-19 kills about 1000 people a year in New Zealand, \u201cand it\u2019s still putting a lot of people in hospital\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hospitalisations with, and deaths from, Covid-19 are \u201cskewed to older age groups\u201d, Baker says, but long Covid affects people of all ages and can have a disabling effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be very concerned about long Covid … every infection you get, you are running that risk of getting long Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long Covid cases aren\u2019t being monitored in New Zealand, partly because it looks a little different for each person.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got no surveillance of long Covid, and I think that\u2019s a real gap. Many countries are doing this well,\u201d Baker says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t a perfect case definition. Unless you\u2019re tracking people over time, it\u2019s quite hard to identify that change from normal functioning to developing long Covid. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut there\u2019s certainly so many people around anecdotally who are affected by this, and quite disabled by it. There\u2019s no question about the phenomenon. There\u2019s a vast literature on it. It\u2019s just we\u2019re not really counting it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is the \u2018super-K\u2019 flu?<\/p>\n