GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Where you get your information can make a difference in understanding the coronavirus and influenza. With so many sources out there, how can you be sure you’re getting accurate information?
“People want to help. They want to contribute positively in terms of challenges like this, so it does start with this basic premise of – where do I go for information?” said UW-Green Bay Associate Professor of Biology Brian Merkel. “It really comes down to identifying scientific studies, and that’s not necessarily easy either when you go to the Internet…Scientific studies have citations, do not have sensationalistic titles, there should be some sort of comment about any conflict of interest, and some indication of the expertise of the authors.”
Merkel is part of the COVID-19 Response team at UW-Green Bay where positive COVID-19 cases remain below 1%.
“Despite what’s happening in the region and throughout much of the state, the fact that we have less than a one-percent case rate is really starling in a very, very positive way. So we’re going to try to do everything we can to make sure that we continue along this path,” Merkel said.
Merkel recommends the following websites:
Merkel says there are some common virus-related misconceptions. For example, he says people often ask if COVID deaths are inflated, or are caused by influenza.
“Could some of these deaths that we’re seeing in the summer be caused by influenza? The answer is no. Because one of the things that we know about influenza is that it has a very specific seasonal pattern for some very interesting reasons,” Merkel said. “Respiratory viruses, including influenza, tend to do better during the cooler months. Influenza does not happen during the summer. So any of these respiratory type diseases that have unique patterns that are unique to COVID were simply due to COVID and nothing else. We can feel confident because we have specific tests for COVID.”
Merkel also addressed misconceptions surrounding the flu and vaccines for it.
“The strains that are incorporated in that seasonal influenza vaccine, the injected ones, those strains are completely inactivated. They simply cannot establish infection. It’s impossible,” Merkel explained. “We’re trying to ramp up your immune system. So that’s why for some period of time you may have a low grade fever, you may feel fatigued, or you may not feel ‘right’…We kind of joke about this a little bit. If I don’t have that sort of response to a vaccine, I want my money back. Because we want vaccines to do that so we go through that short period of time where were tired or if we have a low grade fever, we have protection against a problem that we don’t want to have going forward.”
Comments