A particularly difficult respiratory disease season is well underway in the United States, and health officials are urging people to get their flu and COVID-19 vaccines again.
There are currently higher than normal levels of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza in the United States. At the same time, the number of new COVID infections is 28% higher now than it was two weeks ago.
“It’s going to be a confusing season for respiratory infections,” Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, an intern at Piedmont Hospital and several other Atlanta hospitals, told reporters Monday. “Understanding what makes people sick is going to be a puzzle.”
Even for people who test negative for COVID, flu and RSV, it is still possible to catch the common cold as many Americans have strayed from pandemic mitigation measures like social distancing and masking to a post-COVID standard. It appears that the number of flu cases in Europe is also higher than it was last year, according to UBS analysts.
“These levels are higher than what we typically see at this time of year,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during Monday’s call with reporters. “Compared to the previous week, influenza hospitalizations continue to be the highest we’ve seen at this time of year in a decade.”
An estimated 8.7 million people have caught the flu, 78,000 people have been hospitalized with the flu and 4,500 have died, including 14 children, since Oct. 2, according to the CDC. About 7.5% of all visits to a health care provider today are for respiratory illnesses. (This week last year, respiratory disease accounted for 2.5% of outpatient provider visits.)
Shortages of the flu antiviral drug Tamiflu and the antibiotic amoxicillin have exacerbated the surge in respiratory disease. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a rare liquid version of amoxicillin is commonly used to treat ear infections, pneumonia, and sinusitis, which can occur as a result of infection. Over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and Motrin for children are hard to find in some areas.
But there are steps you can take to prevent or reduce the risk of serious respiratory illness. According to Fryhofer, flu shots are “a good match with the circulating virus.” As with COVID vaccines, it takes about two weeks after a flu shot to make protective antibodies. New COVID boosters, which have been updated to better protect against new omicron subvariants, are also available.
There are also antivirals that treat influenza and COVID, and while there is currently no cure or vaccine for RSV, several pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline GSK,
et Pfizer Inc. PFE,
seek regulatory approval of RSV vaccines for the elderly.
Walensky also noted that RSV has peaked in the South and Southeast, and may soon peak in New England and the Midwest.
“There’s probably a sense of complacency,” Fryhofer said. “We have forgotten how bad the flu can be. But this season is a scream that it can get really bad, and it’s here. So people need to get vaccinated.
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