(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — In case you were one of the many people googling or searching community threads about what's going around right now, whether it be the dreaded stomach bug or other respiratory illness, we got the answers from El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH). On Friday, Jan. 10, FOX21 News spoke with Dr. Bernadette Albanese, Co-Medical Director for EPCPH who said that four main illnesses are circulating the community, some more so than others but include; Influenza (flu), RSV, COVID, and Norovirus. Courtesy: On Friday, Jan. 10, FOX21 News spoke with Dr. Bernadette Albanese, Co-Medical Director for EPCPH on four main illnesses circulating the community. Dr. Albanese said that this season is pretty normal for what they usually see this time of year. "This has been a very typical season, actually," she said. "Things that we would have seen, as far as the pattern of illness goes... is about what we would be seeing, typically, before the pandemic came." She added that we are right in the middle of winter viral respiratory season, which normally begins in October and can run through May, depending on the season. For a closer look at the numbers, Dr. Albanese pointed to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's (CDPHE) respiratory dashboard, where people can see how many hospitalizations and positive lab tests have been tracked for each illness. EPCPH also has its own dashboard for county cases. "Flu is way high right now. It sort of started off a little slow in October and November, and then by the beginning to mid-December it just went almost straight up [if you look at the dashboard]," she said. "The lab test positivity for flu has been over 20%, which is pretty high, meaning 20% of tests for flu are turning back positive." While she said the flu is leading the way right now, RSV is not too far behind. "RSV has two age groups that are a problem; little babies, infants, and young toddlers, they make up most of the RSV hospitalizations, and then we also get a blip in the older adults too, that can get Pneumonia from RSV," she explained. "I don't even know if we are at the high point yet, particularly for flu and RSV." Dr. Albanese said that while COVID typically makes people sick during the summertime, cases appear year-round. "It calmed down a little bit in the fall and increased kind of mild to moderately, but it's just kind of bouncing around," she said. Norovirus, however, is a winter virus and Dr. Albanese said cases reflect that. "Vomiting and diarrhea are the symptoms," she warned. "Norovirus can run through households very quickly." Dr. Albanese said that with all of these illnesses, while you may feel better, you're probably still contagious and to stay home and away from others until your symptoms subside. People should also wash their hands frequently, wear a mask if they are coughing, and be careful when cleaning after others who are sick and to take precautions. "For three out of the four viruses, we have vaccines," she said. "We have the flu vaccine, RSV vaccine for older adults, and now, babies, it's a new product... and we protect babies by vaccinating moms right before delivery during the winter season so that protective antibody passes through to the baby before they are born... and of course, we have the COVID vaccine." While not all cases can be tracked in Colorado as some people recover at home and don't get tested, many might wonder when they should see a doctor or take their loved one in. "For Norovirus... you can get dehydrated, particularly in the elderly, along with infants and young children," Dr. Albanese said. "If you're finding that you just absolutely can keep nothing down and that your urinary frequency is going way down, you're starting to feel lightheaded, things like that, you're probably getting dehydrated and that's a problem, so you'd want to get evaluated with that." On the respiratory side, a big concern is whether those sick with the virus develop Pneumonia, according to Dr. Albanese. "[Things to look out for are] uncontrollable coughing, shortness of breath, can't catch your breath, having a hard time talking, noticing a change in the color of your skin, those are serious warning sides," she said. "For parents of young children who may have RSV, RSV in infants can cause rapid breathing, it can cause kind of the belly breathing, where you can see their bellies rocking, you can hear wheezing, kind of a whistling noise... those are all indications that babies are having a hard time." Another virus that's been of particular concern and unusual because of its impact on adolescents is Pertussis. "The other respiratory illness that has gone a little wild in 2024 is Whooping Cough," Dr. Albanese explained. "We've had a very rough year in El Paso County, absolutely, in Colorado and nationally." As for the rest of 2025, here's what Dr. Albanese had to say: "We are expecting kind of funny patterns of diseases and sort of an upswing as everybody gets back together again," she said. "For this time of the year... this is as expected."