People with coughs and colds should self-isolate as if they have Covid-19, a leading GP has said.
Dr Paul Stewart, from Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal, said people should also avoid kissing babies and children if they feel unwell as they may in fact have RSV.
It comes as cases of RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) and flu are on the rise.
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Dr Stewart said: “It’s quite difficult to distinguish from the ordinary headcolds in children and adults.
“But certainly babies and toddlers, we particularly worry about. If their noses are stuffed up, they find it difficult (to breathe).
“They can run into trouble, no doubt about that.
“Let’s be sensible about this. It will be a sad world when we can’t kiss babies.
“But if you have something and you’re not well, you shouldn’t be kissing a baby, obviously.
“If people are unwell, they should isolate themselves like they did with Covid-19.
“Stay at home and don’t go to work and spread it and so on.
“We were martyrs in the past and used to go into the office coughing and spluttering.
“The usual etiquette, how to cough and sneeze and wash our hands. I think they’re common sense rather than going overboard.”
Dr Stewart also said he expects a surge of flu cases after Christmas.
Speaking to Brendan O’Connor on RTE Radio One, he said: “RSV came a bit earlier. Once kids go back to school and playschool after the summer, we get a run of these.
“The flu tends to come at Christmas when our dear relatives come from abroad and bring it with them.
“I think what’s happening is we’re just catching up now. We didn’t catch many of these viruses over the last two or three years because of our etiquette and precautions.
“We’re just catching up. Within a year or two, we’ll be back to the same old picture.
“People should get vaccinated. I’m a great believer in vaccines of all sorts and certainly everyone should get the Covid vaccine and flu vaccine.”
Last week, Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth urged people to vaccinate themselves against flu.
She said: “We know we’re going into a season of inter-generational mixing at Christmas so it’s really important that we all enjoy ourselves and we can do that by protecting ourselves.
“We have almost 70% uptake in our over 65s in the winter booster, but we haven’t yet achieved our target of 75%.
She also said the peak of the RSV wave has passed.
Prof Smyth said: “We do think we have seen the peak of it, but as you know with viruses it’s very unpredictable.
“We have seen a reduction in cases by 15 to 17 percent in the last week. In the most recent figures we have, we have seen over 600 cases. The previous week it was over 700 cases.”
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