TULSA, Okla. — The Super Bowl is officially over, but now "Super Sick Monday" is upon us — a day when an estimated 15% of the workforce calls out of work due to Super Bowl festivities. But it turns out some of those sick calls may be legitimate, as now is a crucial time for several respiratory infections.
Last night, thousands of people gathered for the biggest football game of the year. Some who showed up with sniffles or sneezes may have passed along an illness without even knowing they were sick.
I spoke with an epidemiologist at the Tulsa Health Department, and he tells me that we are in the peak season of sickness right now. According to the OK Viral View on the Oklahoma State Department of Health's website, Oklahoma is a high-risk state when it comes to the flu right now, meaning kids could be bringing those sicknesses home and spreading them throughout the entire household.
"If your kid is sick, you know, you wouldn't be able to kind of, you know, put them in a separate room and let them be, right? You got to take care of them," said Abhishek Shakya, epidemiologist with Tulsa Health Department.
"So I think in those times, you just want to make sure you have a very good hand hygiene in place, uh, that only not goes for the sick individual, it goes for everybody in the same household. Make sure the mom, dad, the kiddos, everybody are up to date with their vaccines. Um, if there is someone who is very sick, uh, try to use a mask to kind of, you know, uh, protect yourself and protect them as well."
The Tulsa Health Department also informed me about one case of measles that was recently flagged in Cleveland County. What makes this dangerous is that the virus can stay in the air for up to 2 hours after an infected individual has already left.
The Tulsa Health Department recommends that children and adults stay updated on routine vaccines like flu and other illnesses to prevent disease outbreaks.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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