Taking effective water management measures today can help to avoid increases in health care-associated infections
Greg Hunt, Chicago Faucets Product Manager
Doctors are warning that a surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is coinciding with an increase in COVID-19 transmission and an earlier-than-normal flu season. With three respiratory viruses surging simultaneously (RSV, COVID-19 and the flu,) experts are dubbing this period the “triple-demic.”
The increase in RSV cases is partly due to the relaxation of COVID-19 precautions, such as masking and social distancing, which helped to reduce rates of both RSV and flu during the pandemic. And as the holidays approach, social interactions and travel increase, augmenting the potential for spread.
Flu cases are higher than typical for this time of year, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the same time, RSV cases are soaring and COVID-19 cases are increasing as hospitals see higher positive rates. These rates are expected to worsen based on reports from Australia and Europe.
If each virus surges and peaks around the same time, this “triple-demic” could be a huge problem and would tax hospitals and health care facilities even more. Older adults, immunocompromised people and pregnant women are most at risk for COVID-19 and the flu, and young children are highly susceptible to influenza and R.S.V. Many infected children are becoming severely ill because they have little immunity, either because immunity in the general population has waned or because they were not exposed to these viruses previous to the pandemic.
“It’s always concerning when you have three respiratory viruses — RSV, influenza, and COVID — rising at the same time,” White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha, M.D., MPH, said in an interview with CBS News.1 “If all three of them rise at the same time, again if people are not vaccinated, then we can start seeing a lot more hospitalizations.”
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