According to the New York Times, for more than two years, closed schools and offices, social distance and wearing masks have enabled Americans to take a breather from influenza and most other respiratory infections. However, this winter may be different. With almost no quarantine control measures, travel and social activities in the United States are in full swing.
Several foreign media reported that this winter, the United States is likely to face a "triple epidemic" situation, and the number of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections will surge at the same time.
Dr. John Brownstein, epidemiologist and chief innovation officer of Boston Children's Hospital, said, "The combination of shortage of medical staff, insufficient capacity of beds and the spreading viral diseases has formed an unfortunate 'storm'. We now see all this happening everywhere in the United States."
Alpana Wagmare, an infectious disease expert at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a physician at Seattle Children's Hospital, also said, "We see everything coming back."
Public health experts warn that the symptoms of most people infected with COVID-19, influenza and RSV may be mild, but together they may make millions of Americans ill and flood hospitals.
The New York Times quoted experts as saying that COVID-19 and influenza vaccines can still provide the best protection against serious diseases and deaths. They urged everyone, especially high-risk groups, to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
RSV cases surge Children's hospitals are overwhelmed
According to CBS, the number of RSV cases among children has risen rapidly, which has overwhelmed pediatric hospitals.
"Many pediatric ICUs across the country are overcrowded." Dr. David Agus, a writer of CBS medical news, said, "Now most of the inpatient treatment is related to influenza and RSV, rather than COVID-19."
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that RSV can pose a risk to anyone, but the greatest risk is for children under 5 years old, especially infants under 1 year old, and the elderly over 65 years old. RSV causes about 14000 deaths among the elderly aged 65 and over every year, and as many as 300 deaths among children under 5 years old.
Symptoms of RSV infection may look like the common cold, such as runny nose, decreased appetite, cough, sneezing, fever and wheezing. In young infants, there may only be reduced activity, irritability or drowsiness, and dyspnea. Because children's immune system is underdeveloped, their airways are smaller than those of adults, and it is more difficult to breathe when they are inflamed, so they are particularly prone to serious symptoms.
At present, there is no vaccine against RSV, but at least two candidate vaccines are undergoing late clinical trials, which seems to be very effective for the elderly. Pfizer is also developing an antiviral drug.
Variety "power" rising COVID-19 is still changing
CDC data shows that the number of cases infected with COVID-19 has not started to soar. But a few years ago, the virus began to spread rapidly around Thanksgiving.
According to the New York Times, the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in some areas of the United States has begun to rise. The number of hospitalizations and deaths in several European countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, is also rising.
Some COVID-19 variants are good at avoiding the "attack" of the immune system and drugs, and their "power" is "rising". American public health experts are particularly concerned about a series of Omicron mutants, which seem to be able to evade the role of the vaccine more than previous variants.
Until recently, Omikjon BA Subtype 5 has always been the most immune evading variety, but it is rapidly being replaced by other varieties, two of which show stronger immune evading ability. One of the variants, called BQ.1.1, is a major candidate virus for winter outbreaks, which has led to a surge in cases in Europe. It and the BQ.1 variant have accounted for 11% of the newly confirmed cases in the United States, compared with 3% two weeks ago.
The Omikjon subtype variant XBB has triggered a wave of epidemic in Singapore, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. XBB. 1, a subtype variant of XBB, has just arrived in the United States. Another variant, BA. 275.2, is also highly immune and can lead to more serious diseases.
Experts say that most other variants do not seem to cause more severe symptoms than earlier versions, but the trend of immune escape may continue.
Vaccination rate drops, flu season comes ahead of schedule
Before COVID-19 swept the world, the influenza virus would cause millions of people to get sick and tens of thousands of Americans to die every winter. In the 2018 – 2019 flu season, the flu caused 13 million people to seek medical treatment, 380000 people to be hospitalized and 28000 people to die.
This year, the flu started several weeks earlier than usual in Australia and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere, with a significantly higher number of cases and hospitalizations. A similar trend was observed in the Northern Hemisphere.
CDC said that the flu season in the United States had started ahead of schedule. As of October 21, most regions in the United States had reported an early increase in seasonal flu activity. There are indications that winter may be much more serious than the previous spring and summer.
According to CDC data, as of October 8, about 3% of people in the United States had tested positive for influenza; But in some southeast states, the proportion is higher than 10%; In the south central region, the proportion is higher than 5%. In Texas, the proportion of people who tested positive for influenza jumped from 3.7% at the end of September to 5.3% at the beginning of October.
Some southern states also reported an increase in the use of ventilators. In New York, health officials recently announced that the flu has spread widely in the state.
According to an analysis by CDC, last year, the influenza vaccination rate of all age groups decreased slightly compared with the previous year. In addition, in the United States, the vaccination rate of some groups is much lower, which increases the risk of serious disease and hospitalization due to influenza in some communities.
Public health experts said that the elderly and people with low immune function should be vaccinated with COVID-19 and influenza vaccines at the same time.