NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — For Ledalis Mitchell, things seem to be up and down these days when it comes to the health of her two girls.
"It's just been non-stop," she said. "She (her daughter, Kelani) has probably been sick like five times since August, on and off."
She said the sickness just won't slow down.
"Out of nowhere — fever, runny nose," she said. "It's just been tough. I don't know what to do."
Mitchell said the sense of hopelessness when it comes to parenting sick children and work is real.
"We (Mitchell and her husband) are alternating, 'Who's calling off today?'" she said.
Mitchell called it a post-pandemic struggle.
"It was more understanding with jobs and flexibility," she said. "Now it's like, 'OK, well, you gotta get back to it, so figure it out.'"
While you might be experiencing this yourself, doctors said this is actually only the beginning. We are entering the sick months now.
"So sick season for us is usually December through March, so there may be still a lot of virus yet to come," Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine, a pediatrician with Palm Beach Pediatrics, told WPTV.
She said her office has seen an "extraordinary amount of flu" in the last few weeks. So much so that the office ran out of influenza tests recently.
Fox-Levine said the so-called day care phenomenon, where young kids get sick every couple weeks upon entering day care, appears to be more wide-spread.
"It is an unusual year," Fox-Levine said. "We've been seeing in the office, really since the summertime, with a lot of viral illnesses, and it really truly is they are getting something new every two weeks. … For whatever reason this year, we're just getting more of those viruses that are more invasive and cause more symptoms with young children, older children, adults, everybody."
Dr. Larry Bush, an infectious disease specialist, called it "an unusual year."
Bush said a predicted heavy influenza season is also fueling the fire, in addition to "vaccine fatigue," which he said is affecting the number of people getting flu shots.
"The numbers are going to go up for respiratory infections, because we relieved the mandates and masking and people staying indoors," Bush said. "That's gone away, and because I think the vaccine rates are lower than normally are. I think people are a little over vaccinated psychologically, and I think that is the issue."
For now, doctors stress preventative measures, which includes vaccines, getting good sleep, eating healthy foods and taking vitamins.
Mitchell said she'll try anything. She just spent more than $100 on vitamins.
Pediatricians also said they hope the school break will slow things down as well.
"I think this is going to be a heavy season for viruses and respiratory infections," Bush said. "I think it will get back to the norm the following year and maybe people will become more interested in becoming influenza-vaccinated next year."
