MARSHALL — Minnesota has seen a surge of respiratory illnesses this winter, and health care providers say they’re also seeing the impact in the Marshall area.

Dr. Timothy Mok, chief medical officer at Avera Marshall, said they had seen an “exponential” increase in people with respiratory illness coming to urgent care over the past month and a half.

“It felt like the surge came right after Thanksgiving,” Mok said. Influenza was behind a lot of the spike, he said. “But COVID and RSV are in the mix.”

Mok and Dr. Vincent LaPorte encouraged area residents to practice good hygiene and social distancing to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. It can still benefit people to get a flu shot, LaPorte said.

This winter, there has been an increase in influenza cases across Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health reported that a so far a total of 2,716 people statewide have been hospitalized this flu season. Of that total, 742 hospitalizations happened in the week ending Jan. 11.

According to the MDH, the number of acute respiratory illness outbreaks in schools and long-term care facilities have also jumped up since late December. For the week ending Jan. 11, there were 10 new school outbreaks, and 14 new outbreaks of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at long-term care facilities.

MDH data showed that the number of COVID hospitalizations also rose in Minnesota in November and December.

In Marshall, an increased number of people were also coming to the emergency department with respiratory illness, and being admitted to the hospital, Mok said. However, in cases where people were hospitalized, it tended to be because an illness like influenza was exacerbating other underlying conditions, Mok said.

LaPorte said influenza is a disease that shows up in the Marshall area every winter, but in some years the number of cases spikes.

“I’ve lived through four or five spikes over the years,” he said.

Often, there are more cases of respiratory illness in late November through December, LaPorte and Mok said. When people gather for the holidays, it can bring big crowds together and make it easier for viruses to spread.

But another risk facing area residents was vaccine hesitancy, LaPorte said.

“With vaccine hesitancy, we see people getting sick without protection,” he said.

Getting vaccinated for influenza and other viral diseases can help keep people from getting severely ill.

“They’re not perfect, but they can make the illness very mild,” LaPorte said of vaccines.

Although Minnesota is seeing a surge in influenza, it’s not too late to get a flu vaccine, LaPorte said. Influenza A tends to arrive earlier in flu season, while influenza B shows up around February. People who get vaccinated could still benefit from protection against influenza B.

People can also take steps to help keep respiratory illnesses from spreading, Mok and LaPorte said. Measures include washing your hands, and staying home if you are sick. If you are sick, wearing a mask can also help prevent the spread of germs through coughing.

There are treatments, like the medicine Tamiflu, that can help make influenza less severe if given in the first couple of days of illness, LaPorte said. People at higher risk from influenza, like pregnant women, children younger than age 2, senior citizens, and people with weakened immune systems should seek treatment, he said.