Local health experts are weighing in on how you and your loved ones can stay healthy during this festive season to ensure the flu, and other viruses won't be the Grinch stealing the holidays.

Amid the thick of the holidays and in the peak of the '-ber’ months, flu and RSV cases are rising nationally.

On Guam, the island’s flu season typically begins earlier than the U.S. mainland.

Public Health Chief Medical officer Dr. Bob Leon Guerrero says, in August, cases of RSV, COVID-19, and influenza were most prominent.

While the island is close to the tail end of the flu season, he cautions residents not to let their guard down and to be cautious of other respiratory viruses, alongside influenza type A and B.

Leon Guerrero shared, “This time of the year, we are seeing probably some other respiratory viruses. We have two or three kids in the ICU that are negative for RSV, COVID, and influenza. But they’re having some sort of respiratory virus that’s causing them to have some issues.”

Dr. Leon Guerrero stressed the same advice given during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During the height of COVID, people were really paying attention; they were wearing their masks, washing their hands, and other respiratory viruses like influenza-rsv were almost non-existent in the first two/three years of covid-19. Now, people are more inclined not to wear their mask, not wash their hands, not social distance, and start smoking more,” He said.

Additionally, flu shots for anyone 6 months and older is recommended.

“See your doctor, try to get tested to see if you have influenza, COVID, or RSV,” Leon Guerrero advised.

As for RSV, he says the virus tends to severely impact infants and the elderly, adding vaccinations to aid the most vulnerable populations are underway.

He said, “We’re at the tail end, but to help–because there’s gonna be kids coming in from college–so to the ones who didn’t get infected, there’s a good chance you can get it. So, the best way to avoid this is to try and get the vaccine if available. If you’re sick– or you know somebody who is sick, ask someone who’s sick to wear a mask to decrease the spread. And then wash hands.”

This is an important reminder to help us all enjoy the holiday season.