Turkey feasts with loved ones may have come and gone, but the aftermath of COVID and flu-related hospitalizations post-Thanksgiving are on the upswing, albeit it’s lower than this time last year.
In a subtle move this week, the California Department of Public Health replaced the state’s COVID dashboard with a new respiratory virus dashboard that tracks data for COVID and influenza. This transition indicates COVID’s shift to an endemic virus akin to the flu.
An infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, pointed out that while COVID is the primary cause of new hospitalizations and deaths in the United States, the current hospitalization rates are lower compared to last winter’s peak.
Notably, the percentage of emergency room visits for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is also on the rise, indicating a need for vigilance during the ongoing season of winter respiratory viruses.
As state-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates, there’s an extended progression to reach the high levels of flu and RSV activity. However, with COVID hospital admissions similar to last year, concerns linger about the rising hospitalizations due to relatively low vaccine uptake for COVID, especially among the older population.
While the rates of illness are on the rise, the potential level to which they will ascend remains uncertain. As precautionary measures, health officials advise getting the annual flu and COVID vaccines, along with implementing other preventive measures such as frequent hand washing and mask-wearing in crowded spaces.
Additionally, the approval of the first RSV vaccine for adults is a significant development to combat the spread of RSV. The California Department of Public Health highlighted the availability of vaccines for COVID-19, flu, and RSV spanning across different age groups.
The bottom line is that there’s still time to prioritize getting vaccinated to protect loved ones and families amidst the current spike in winter viruses.
