A warning has been issued that a so-called ‘Triple+Pandemic’ could come in the United States this winter, in which Corona 19, the flu, and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) all spread all at once.
The New York Times reported on the 23rd that as quarantine rules loosened, flu and RSV are spreading rapidly, and new mutations of COVID-19 are also appearing.
The New York Times reported that the flu, which usually starts in October, is spreading earlier than usual.
In fact, as of the 8th, the influenza infection rate in the United States was 3%, but in some southeastern regions it exceeded 10%. In New York, the flu started earlier than usual.
According to the State Department of Health, there were 596 confirmed flu cases in New York State in the month of September, nearly quadrupling from 150 a year earlier.
The spread of RSV, which has symptoms like COVID-19 or flu, is also rapid.
In some states, such as Massachusetts and Illinois, a red flag came in as the capacity of pediatric beds was insufficient due to a surge in RSV patients. In the United States, RSV kills approximately 14,000 people over the age of 65 and up to 300 children under the age of 5 each year.
Another strain that has much better immune evasion ability than the Corona 19 Omicron BA.5 strain is heralding a pandemic this winter.
Medical experts warn that each disease does not cause serious symptoms, but if they become epidemics at the same time, the number of infected people will increase and put pressure on medical capacity.
Experts say that the COVID-19 and flu vaccines do not provide 100% protection against infection, but they are still the best defense.
Meanwhile, new data released by the CDC last week showed that 10 counties in upstate New York had high levels of COVID-19 infection. This number reached a whopping 20% of counties classified as high in the country.