ALPENA — Residents should take special precautions to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19, public health officials warned this week.

District Health Department No. 4 said in a news release this week they’re seeing a rise in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the flu, and coronavirus infection in Northeast Michigan.

RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, decreased appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever, and wheezing, but can show only as irritability, decreased activity, and breathing difficulties in very young infants. Most RSV infections go away on their own in a week or two, but infants and older adults can develop severe RSV infection and may need to be hospitalized.

The Health Department’s warning comes as public health officials reported 87 new COVID-19 infections among Northeast Michiganders in the past week, the most in a single week since May. Mortality rates among those infected with COVID-19 remain low, with three deaths reported in November among 174 new infections last month.

Public health officials do not report numbers of RSV or flu infections in the same way they report coronavirus infection cases.

Similar to the flu and coronavirus, RSV can spread through virus droplets from a cough or sneeze or by touching a surface that has the virus on it, such as a doorknob.

People infected with RSV remain contagious for three to eight days and may be contagious for a day or two before symptoms develop. Some infants and people with weakened immune systems can continue to spread the virus even after they stop showing symptoms, for as long as a month.

To prevent the spread of those viral illnesses, public health officials recommend the following:

∫ Stay home when you are ill, at least until you’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

∫ Wash your hands with soap and running warm water for at least 20 seconds, or as long as it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if you can’t wash your hands.

∫ If you cough or sneeze, do so into your upper shirt sleeve or elbow, not into your hands.

∫ Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth, where germs enter the body.

∫ Avoid close contact with others, such as kissing, shaking hands, and sharing cups and eating utensils.

∫ Clean frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs and mobile devices.

∫ Get your vaccines for the flu and COVID-19. There is currently no vaccine against RSV.

Coronavirus vaccination rates remain relatively low among Northeast Michiganders. As of Wednesday, about 59% of Northeast Michiganders had received their first round of vaccination and about 39% had received a booster dose, according to state data. Those figures have remained mostly unchanged for months.

Public health officials advise people to get medical care immediately if they or their children have an illness lasting longer than a week, fast breathing or trouble breathing, bluish skin color, are not urinating, are not waking up or not interacting with others as they normally do, are being so irritable that the child does not want to be held, show symptoms that improve but then return with fever and worse coughing, or have a fever with a rash.