Flu cases are rising earlier than usual, and pediatric hospitals are seeing an increase in respiratory syncytial virus, commonly known as RSV. There are also signs that Covid-19 cases are on the rise in some parts of the country as Americans head into cooler months.
Doctors say Covid-19 precautions earlier in the pandemic – and their recent disappearance – are a big part of flu and RSV making a comeback. Measures like masking and social distancing also suppressed rates of other viruses, leaving those of us who have not recently been infected with lower levels of protection.
“It is very clear that as people are easing COVID precautions, it is very likely that we will see an increase in influenza at the same time,” said Jay Varma, MD, a physician and director of the Cornell Center for Epidemic Prevention and Response in New York City. it is said. and epidemiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine.
All three viruses share similar symptoms, such as cough, sore throat, runny nose, and fever, which makes it difficult to tell what you have without testing. You can test for COVID-19 at home, and most health professionals can test for flu and RSV.
Further concerns for Covid-19
Vaccines and protection from prior infection have dramatically reduced the severity of COVID-19 infections already in the pandemic. Yet the virus remains dangerous, especially for people who are older or have certain health conditions. Less-severe cases can still make you feel sick for a week or more, and disrupt your home movement, work and school. And even mild infections can cause prolonged symptoms associated with COVID-19, such as brain fog, extreme fatigue, and rapid heartbeat.
“Particularly for people over the age of 50 and who are immunocompromised, COVID remains a very real threat,” says Celine Gounder, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation and an infectious-disease specialist and epidemiologist.
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have decreased across the country. The average new weekly cases for 21 days till October 19 have come down by about 31% as compared to the previous 21 days. normal speed. The seven-day average for hospitalizations fell 4% to 3,156, and the 21-day moving average of new deaths fell 13% to 388.
However, it is difficult to accurately monitor Covid-19 cases as most people use rapid tests at home, which are usually not reported. The CDC is reporting COVID-19 cases less frequently, issuing weekly rather than daily updates for October. The most reliable indicator of Covid-19 cases is hospitalization data, says Dr Verma, but hospitalizations lag behind by about two to three weeks.
“We think it’s the calm before the storm,” says Caitlin Jetelina, an epidemiologist who writes the popular “Your Local Epidemiologist” newsletter. “We think in November it will really start to take off nationally.”
The new Omicron subvariants are being claimed around the world, with some driving boom in other countries. Weekly data from the US CDC indicates that the bq.1.1 and bq.1 subvariants—descended from ba.5, the predominant omicron subvariant in the US—accounted for more than 16% of cases as of October 21. Last week. Another subvariant, XBB, is causing a surge of cases in Singapore.
The number of cases and hospitalizations in some Western European countries, which is often a harbinger of what is to come under US wastewater surveillance in the Northeast, also indicates that cases are beginning to climb. Doctors worry that so few people have received an updated version of the booster shot.
Flu season starts early
Plus, the flu is rearing its head faster than usual, citing increased activity in much of the country, especially in the southeast and south-central states.
Rick Zimmerman, a professor of family medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, has been monitoring the flu for more than a decade and says he hasn’t seen this activity so quickly since the 2009 influenza pandemic.
Public health officials recommend that everyone 6 months of age and older get the flu vaccine by the end of this month, saying it is safe to get a flu shot and a COVID-19 booster at the same time. The dominant influenza strain is A H3N2 and it appears to match this year’s vaccine well, Dr. Zimmerman says.
“It takes about two weeks for really good immunity, so get your flu vaccine now because we’re seeing the beginning,” he says.
Over the past flu season, nearly half of people 6 months and older in the U.S. received the flu vaccine, the CDC estimates. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Disease Survey, the projections for this year are similar.
It is not clear whether the US influenza season, while earlier starting, will be more severe in hospitalizations and deaths. The weather was bad in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, such as Australia, where it was already winter, but not so bad in other parts, such as South Africa.
rsv rebound
Rates of another common virus—respiratory syncytial virus—are also rising earlier than normal, filling up beds in pediatric hospitals.
RSV is a virus that infects the respiratory tract. In generally healthy people, a mild cold, RSV can be dangerous and even fatal in the very old and young, especially children under the age of 1.
Exposure is the only way to gain immunity to RSV because there is no vaccine, notes Dr. Gounder. RSV cases declined during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The respiratory virus that typically spreads in the fall and winter then resurfaced in the summer of 2021. Young children who have not been exposed to the virus in the past few years are now more vulnerable.
Public-health experts say the same precautionary measures that protect against other respiratory viruses help prevent transmission of RSV: washing your hands thoroughly, covering coughs and sneezes, or wearing a mask if you are symptomatic. So stay home and improve ventilation in indoor spaces. ,
If a child is having trouble breathing, gasping and wheezing, or coughing so hard that they can’t breathe, a parent should seek medical attention, says Dr. Gounder. Difficulty feeding and sinking the soft tissues around the clavicle and between the ribs are also related to symptoms.