With the winter months and holiday season on the horizon, you’re likely doing everything in your power to stay healthy. But sometimes getting sick is inevitable and knowing exactly what you’ve come down with becomes the priority to get proper treatment and avoid passing it along to others. The flu and COVID-19 are likely high on your radar, but you should also be aware of 24-hour flu.Believe it or not, even though it's called "the 24-hour flu," it has nothing to do with the flu or flu virus at all. The 24-hour flu is a misnomer because influenza is an upper respiratory tract virus that does not involve the gastrointestinal tract, explained Nicholaos Bellos, MD, an infectious disease expert and the national medical director of extended care services at Quest Diagnostics. People who have the 24-hour flu are actually experiencing a condition known as gastroenteritis, also often referred to as the stomach flu, he says. Gastroenteritis is commonly known as the 24-hour flu because the symptoms it causes may only last a day or two. That's not always true, though, since GI issues caused by this condition can sometimes take up to 14 days to go away, Bellos said.When it comes to the 24-hour flu, you don’t want to mess around. Here’s everything you need to know about this stomach bug, according to doctors. So, what causes the 24-hour flu?“Adult cases are usually caused by norovirus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, rotavirus, or food poisoning,” Bellos said. The virus or contaminated food causes your stomach and intestines to become irritated and inflamed, leading to gastroenteritis and the associated symptoms, he explains.Both the norovirus and rotavirus are spread through coming into contact with someone who has the virus or their unwashed hands (especially after going to the bathroom or changing a diaper) or touching contaminated surfaces. Food poisoning, on the other hand, occurs when someone consumes contaminated food or water, Bellos said.That said, the 24-hour flu is typically not airborne (caused by coughing, sneezing, or laughing), according to Natasha Chhabra, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey. “People can get it through ingestion of contaminated foods, but usually more rapid spread is in crowded areas and more through direct contact rather than respiratory.”What are the symptoms of the 24-hour flu?Symptoms usually appear within four to 48 hours after coming in contact with the virus or eating contaminated foods. They can include abdominal pain, diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes fever, said Dr. Bellos. You may also have body aches, loss of appetite, or extreme fatigue, and dehydration is common if you're throwing up or going to the bathroom a lot. The tricky part is symptoms can be similar to those of the flu or COVID-19. “COVID-19 can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, even when breathing problems are not present, so it’s important to look at other more severe health conditions when experiencing symptoms,” Bellos said. But simple tests can rule out COVID-19, the flu, or bacterial infections.And while anyone can get the 24-hour flu, those with a weakened immune system are at a higher risk, Chhabra said. Young children, elderly people, and anyone who is immunocompromised or taking medications that suppress their immune system are more likely to develop severe symptoms. Does the 24-hour flu really go away in a day?Unfortunately, no. “For most people, the illness goes away in a few days, and you can be contagious from a few days to two weeks or more, depending on which virus caused the gastroenteritis,” Bellos said.However, in the case of the norovirus, you may still be contagious a few days after you recover. The 24-hour flu is very contagious, so the best way to avoid getting others sick is to limit contact, disinfect all surfaces (counters, door handles, faucets, etc.), and practice good hand washing (that means rinsing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds), Bellos said.The virus can also remain in your stool for up to two weeks after recovery, so hand washing after using the bathroom is absolutely essential, he added.How do you treat the 24-hour flu?Most cases go away on their own with rest and plenty of fluids, but Chhabra recommends hydrating with electrolytes, such as drinking Vitamin Water, Gatorade or even Pedialyte. If you’re struggling to keep anything down, drink small amounts of water or electrolyte fluids (two to four ounces) every 30 to 60 minutes, Bellos added. You should also stick to bland foods like bread, crackers, or rice, and avoid anything heavy or flavorful. “Sometimes antidiarrheals like Imodium can be used, but that should be discussed with your doctor before using in case there is an infection that requires more specific treatment like an antibiotic,” Chhabra said.A probiotic supplement may also be helpful to restore the gut flora, which can be thrown off when you’re dealing with an infection or virus. “There's not one probiotic that’s considered much better than others, but a probiotic in general supplies you with good bacteria and can help mitigate symptoms,” Chhabra added.You may not feel the effects of the probiotic right away, but you’ll notice (and feel!) a difference over time. When should you see a doctor?If you have diarrhea that lasts more than several days or notice blood in your stool, then you need to seek medical care, Chhabra said. Prolonged nausea that lasts more than one to two weeks is also a sign that it’s time to check in with your doc. Dehydration is another major concern with the 24-hour flu, so if you feel lightheaded, dizzy, delirious, or have dry mouth, lips, or eyes, then you need to go to the emergency room or urgent care ASAP, Chhabra said.

If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you probably know someone who lost their sense of taste or smell from COVID-19.

“This virus has receptors including the ACE-2 that it binds to. And the ACE-2 receptor is particularly found in the olfactory epithelium, which are the areas the cells in the nose, deep inside the nose where the sense of smell fibers descend down from the brain,” said Dr. Carol Yan, a Rhinologist at UC San Diego.

She has been working with patients who have a loss of taste and smell from COVID-19.

“We’ve known for many years that all viruses have the potential to cause smell loss, and it is, in particular with this virus, that we’ve seen a much higher incidence of smell and taste loss,” said Dr. Yan.

We haven’t known until recently that the loss of smell, at least in the case of COVID, might be tied to your genetics.

“We compared people who had COVID-19 who did have a loss of smell versus people who didn’t, and we found a very clear genetic association with that particular symptom,” said Janie Shelton, an epidemiologist with 23&Me.

In a recent study, the company claims it can identify the genetic trait linked to the loss of smell in COVID patients.

“When we looked across all the chromosomes in the genome, we saw one really particular region in the genome that appeared to be strongly associated with loss of smell and so that region of the genome governs the expression of enzymes in your nose that clear smells out of your nose,” Shelton said.

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering which types of people have this trait. But Shelton says it’s not that simple.

“What we saw was that this was relevant across all the different race-ethnic groups that we had in our sample,” said Shelton.

So, anyone can have this genetic trait. They still don’t know what may cause long-term loss of smell in people.

“Those people, you know we don’t really know why they specifically haven’t recovered and whether or not there’s a genetic component to that an immuno component or something different,” said Dr. Yan.

But 23&Me is looking into that next.

“Of the people who reported COVID to us, we went back and asked them to fill out another web-based survey about whether or not they’ve had symptoms of long COVID,” said Shelton.

Hoping to uncover more answers for the people suffering from long-term symptoms.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the omicron variant sweeps across the nation, prompting long lines at COVID testing sites, there is a small silver lining: there are fewer hospitalizations and deaths from omicron than from last year's delta variant.

"Our vaccines, especially when combined with boosters, have remained extremely effective at keeping people out of the hospital and it is saving their lives," said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.

Still, since omicron began spreading in the U.S. over the holiday season, there have been millions of new COVID infections.

“This omicron variant is more transmissible than previous versions,” said Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a professor at the CUNY’s Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.

Dr. Lee is also the executive director of PHICOR (Public Health Informatics, Computational and Operations Research) and has been studying and tracking COVID since the pandemic began.

“Based on the data, it looks like the peak of this current omicron wave will probably occur sometime in mid-January,” he said.

By then, millions more Americans could potentially be infected with COVID. However, it’s what happens in the months after those infections that will need to be looked at closely, including what omicron might mean in terms of new long-haul COVID cases.

“Long COVID is something that's many times overlooked and not discussed,” Dr. Lee said. “People are focusing on things like deaths or potentially hospitalizations, and so many people tend to forget there is a significant percentage of people who are suffering from long COVID.”

Dr. Lee says with previous variants, there has been some correlation between how severe a COVID case is and how likely that person will become a long-hauler. Yet, he says, there is something about that which needs to be emphasized.

“This is not a super strong correlation,” he said. “Meaning, that there have been many cases of people having mild milder symptoms or milder COVID-19 early on, but they continue to have persistent symptoms.”

Those symptoms can run the gamut: from a loss of taste or smell to muscle pains to brain fog, among others.

The World Health Organization defines long COVID as having symptoms more than three months after initial infection, a timeline not reached with omicron yet.

“So, it's not clear what percentage of people who've been infected with the omicron variant will develop these persistent long COVID symptoms versus other variants,” Dr. Lee said.

It is something that, for omicron cases, might not become clearer until the spring.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has a warning for young adults who think they will bounce back from COVID-19.

Speaking at an event with the American Society for Microbiology, Dr. Fauci pointed out that many young adults and kids who believe they had a “mild” case of the coronavirus take a significant amount of time to recover from all symptoms.

“We’d better be careful when we say ‘Young people who don’t wind up in the hospital are fine, let them get infected, it’s OK.’ No, it’s not OK,” Dr. Fauci said during the briefing.

He went on to say that those who don’t require hospitalization and are otherwise healthy can end up in bed for two or three weeks with COVID-19, and have residual symptoms for weeks or sometimes months longer.

The country’s top infectious disease doctor said check-ups down the road with patients who supposedly recovered have shown many “have a substantially high proportion of cardiovascular abnormalities, evidence of myocarditis by MRI and PET scans, evidence of emerging cardiomyopathies.”

He called these findings “really troublesome” because they are constantly evolving as the world learns more about COVID-19 and the long-term impacts on the human body.

With the arrival of fall and another round of seasonal allergies, doctors are again warning about confusing an allergic reaction with a COVID-19 infection.

Dr. Casey Mabry, with Ascension St. Agnes Health in Maryland, said irritating allergy symptoms may linger, but the causes behind them -- summer vs. fall -- differ.

"It's hard to prevent allergies, but you can definitely limit your exposure," Mabry said. "Spring and summer allergies tend to be grass and flowers while the trees are blooming. The fall is a little bit different. It tends to be dust and mold."

Now, add to the mix COVID-19 with symptoms like coughing, congestion and feeling generally under the weather all crossing over.

But there's one key difference.

"Allergies will never cause a fever. If you have a fever, you can't blame that on your allergies. Please get COVID tested," Mabry said.

Mabry said another way to tell is to be honest with yourself: Are the symptoms you're experiencing something you've seen before or something new?

"If you have brand new allergies this year, it's probably not allergies. If you, all of a sudden, are getting congestion and sore throat, and you're not feeling well in the fall, but you've never had that before, maybe get tested," Mabry said.

Also, keep in mind that itchiness often goes with allergies, just as a loss of taste or smell goes with COVID-19.

"It's tricky because we're not seeing as much loss of smell with the delta variant, but still, definitely if you lose your sense of smell, it's definitely much more concerning," Mabry said.

Mabry said to stay hydrated and wear face masks to stop the spread of COVID-19. Also, be sure to wash the masks to prevent more allergies this fall.

Watch the video above for the full story.

Can vitamin C and zinc help you fight off COVID-19?

No, not even at high doses, according to the first randomized clinical trial to test the two supplements under medical supervision.

Despite the popular use of vitamin C and zinc to fight off or lessen the severity of viral colds and flu, the new study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, found the two supplements were of no benefit to people isolating at home with COVID-19.

In fact, the findings were so unimpressive that the study was stopped early.

"Unfortunately, these 2 supplements failed to live up to their hype," wrote Dr. Erin Michos of John Hopkins and Houston Methodist's Dr. Miguel Cainzos-Achirica, in an accompanying editorial.

The clinical trial gave high doses of each supplement alone and in combination to one of three groups of 214 adults who were recovering at home. A fourth group got standard care, such as rest, hydration and fever-reducing medications, but no supplements.

"High-dose zinc gluconate (zinc), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), or both supplements did not reduce SARS-CoV-2 symptoms," according to Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Milind Desai and a team from Cleveland Clinic.

The high doses, however, did cause some unpleasant side effects for patients taking the supplements.

"More adverse effects (nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps) were reported in the supplement groups than in the usual care group," wrote Michos, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Cainzos-Achirica, an assistant professor of preventive cardiology at Houston Methodist.

Popular supplements

Many Americans turn to vitamin C and zinc supplements to fight off viral colds and flu.

Vitamin C is a recognized antioxidant and plays an essential role in supporting the immune system. Even though it has not been shown to prevent illness, other research has found vitamin C can shorten colds by 8% in adults and 14% in kids.

Using vitamin C after cold symptoms start, however, doesn't appear to be helpful, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Zinc may help a cell's ability to fight infection, the study said, "while there is evidence that zinc deficiency increases pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreases the production of antibodies."

But what does that mean in real life? If taken within 24 hours of the very first signs of a cold, zinc may reduce the length of a cold by only one day, a review of 13 studies found.

There is a down side, too. Taking over 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day can cause heartburn, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and headaches. The average daily recommended amount of vitamin C is 75 milligrams for adult women and 90 milligrams for men.

Over 40 milligrams of zinc each day can cause dry mouth, nausea, loss of appetite and diarrhea, plus it can have a nasty metallic taste.

Long-term users can have "low copper levels, lower immunity, and low levels of HDL cholesterol (the 'good' cholesterol)," according to the NIH. In 2009, the FDA warned the public against using zinc nasal sprays because they were linked to more than 100 cases of loss of smell.

Research continues

Scientists are continuing to explore the use of vitamins and supplements in the treatment of COVID-19.

Randomized trials are currently underway to see if vitamin D supplements can help — in addition to supporting healthy bone growth, vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties.

Researchers in the U.S. and China are using intravenous doses of vitamin C to determine if it might help people with respiratory failure severe enough to be put on a ventilator.

And more studies are in progress to see if COVID-19 can be prevented by supplements such as vitamins C and D and zinc.

Based on this study, however, the use of vitamin C and zinc to shorten the duration of COVID-19 appears to be useless.

CNN —

Related video above: Doctor answers COVID-19 vaccine questions

Health experts have said that data so far has shown that COVID-19 vaccines prevent symptoms of the virus — but a new study suggests that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines may also prevent infections.

A team at the Mayo Clinic health system looked at more than 31,000 people across four states who had received at least one dose of either vaccine — and found their vaccines were upwards of 80% effective in preventing infection 36 days after the first dose.

Vaccine efficacy was 75% 15 days after the first dose, and appeared 89% effective from 36 days after the second dose, according to the research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Despite a backlog in inoculations due to harsh winter weather that has gripped much of the U.S., officials have been pressing to vaccinate Americans before what appear to be more transmissible variants, which they fear could reverse the progress in terms of lowering cases and hospitalizations.

More than 59 million vaccine doses have so far been administered in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said Friday that the U.S. is unlikely to achieve herd immunity for the virus before the winter.

"We know COVID is really seasonal, so when the next winter rolls around, we need to have a much higher level of protection to stop COVID in its tracks than we are likely to achieve," he said.

Herd immunity doesn't take effect until 80% or more of the population has immunity, either through infection or vaccination. And the new variants may complicate the picture, Murray said. If people can be reinfected with the new variants, the pandemic may take off again.

Though officials hope to have vaccines widely distributed by the end of the summer, President Biden said Friday that issues like weather, mutating strains and manufacturing delays make it hard to nail down a timeline.

"I believe we're on the road, I promise you. I know we'll run into bumps. It's not going to be easy here to the end, but we're going to beat this. We're going to beat this," he said while visiting a Pfizer facility in Michigan.

Too risky to give single doses, Fauci says

One way to protect more people quickly, some experts suggest, is to prioritize administering first doses of the vaccine.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, advocated Friday for U.S. officials to consider delaying the second dose.

"Would that really be a problem, because if we could do that, we could vaccinate a lot more high-risk people, quickly...Everybody needs a second dose, but I think we can do it in a way that's still safe and get a lot more people protected," Jha told CNN.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday that a single-dose plan would be too risky.

Fauci said he worried that if large numbers of people got a single shot and had less than optimal immune responses, they could be exposed to the virus and start incubating viral mutations. In theory, new variants could arise, he said.

"We will stick with the scientifically documented efficacy and optimal response of a prime followed by a boost with the mRNA vaccines," Fauci told a White House briefing.

Jha, for his part, said he agreed that everybody needed a second dose, "I think the question is, right now we wait four weeks between first and second dose. What if we went six weeks or eight weeks or 10 weeks — not much longer than that."

School can reopen now matter the virus' spread, CDC director says

In the hopes of returning to some sense of normalcy, a priority to many families and officials has been allowing students to resume in-person learning.

And CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday that given the right precautions, schools may open no matter how much virus is spreading in the community.

As of Tuesday, CNN analysis indicated about 90% of children live in so-called red zones under the CDC's guidance — meaning there is a high level of community spread of the virus. But even in those conditions, schools can safely reopen if they take precautions, Walensky told a White House briefing.

The CDC has said schools can reopen if they make sure they are mitigating the risk of spread with universal mask use, measures to keep children and staff six feet apart, frequent cleaning and disinfection and testing and contact tracing.

The CDC director's assurances came as Fauci announced that the U.S. should have vaccine safety data for high school-age kids by the beginning of fall.

Companies are just starting tests of younger age groups but have been testing their vaccines on 12- to 17-year-olds, Fauci told a White House briefing. Safety data for younger children will likely not be available until early next year, he said.

Vaccine hesitancy not an excuse for inequities

Meanwhile, vaccine trials and distribution have shed light on inequities in the medical field.

People of color have been vastly underrepresented in U.S.-based vaccine trials for the last decade, according to a new study released Friday by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Harvard, Emory and other institutions.

The study found that white people made up the majority, or 78%, of participants in trials conducted between June 2011 and June 2020.

The study, published in the JAMA Network Open, comes as the nation grapples with a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted people of color. Health care leaders are working to combat vaccine distrust among Black and brown people, saying the shot is the key to preventing further devastating in their communities.

But that hesitancy should not be an excuse for officials to explain away racial disparities in vaccination, Fauci said.

"It's that we've got to really extend ourselves into the community to get the access to minority populations that they don't have," Fauci said in an interview with MSNBC.

CINCINNATI —

A new study shows many people infected with COVID-19 have long-term mental health symptoms.

Researchers are finding about one in three COVID-19 survivors had neurological or psychological issues long after getting sick.

The study was published in the journal, Lancet Psychiatry. It is the largest study of its kind, involving the medical records of more than 200,000 COVID-19 patients.

The most common diagnosis was anxiety, found in 17% of those treated for COVID-19, followed by mood disorders, found in 14% of patients.

The neurological effects are most severe in hospitalized patients but still exist in those that experienced more mild symptoms.

Researchers found that those with COVID had a 44% increased risk for neurological and psychiatric illness compared to people recovering from the flu.

Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, & Neuroscience, Dr. Henry Nasrallah, calls the findings unsurprising because many viruses do cause an inflammatory response to the brain, which can trigger things like depression, anxiety, PTSD etc.

He said out of the total number of patients that developed a brain disorder, 20% already had one before, while the other 13% did not.

Doctors said these findings just reiterate how crucial it is to keep seeing your primary care provider even after you've recovered from COVID-19.

Doctors are stressing the chance of getting blood clots from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine appears to be very rare.

The U.S. on Tuesday recommended a "pause" in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, a development that could jeopardize the rollout of vaccines around the world.

"Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare," FDA and CDC doctors said in a joint statement about the pause.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced that they were investigating unusual clots that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The FDA commissioner said she expected the pause to last a matter of days.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says Americans who've recently received a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine shouldn't be anxious about the "pause."

The nation's top infectious disease expert says, "It's less than one in a million." Fauci adds people should "pay attention" to symptoms associated with the blood clots, particularly between one and three weeks after the shot.

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Mississippi Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the condition is extremely rare and those who have already received the J&J shot should not worry.

Doctors with the federal health departments said people who have received the J&J vaccine "who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider."

More than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine, which is also known as the Janssen vaccine, have been administered as of Monday in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not affected. Dr. Geoffrey Barnes, cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist in Michigan, said there has not been a sign of blood clot risk with those vaccines.

"It's important to note that we do not yet know if there is a real risk of clotting associated with the J&J/Janssen vaccine," Barnes said on a University of Michigan Health System website. "So far, there are very few reported cases (six) despite millions of doses administered."

Barnes said it's wise to be putting the vaccine on pause and that the clots seem to be quite rare.

"The risk of blood clots in patients with COVID is far higher than the very small risk of a blood clot following a COVID-19 vaccine," Barnes said. "Overall, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination greatly outweigh the very small risks."

Barnes said doctors are aware of the condition and have the tools to diagnose and treat patients if it occurs.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the pause will help give physicians insight for treating people to know if a treatment should be avoided.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.