BALTIMORE – Doctors are fearing a “triple-demic” this fall with cases of the flu, COVID and RSV, a respiratory virus targeting young children, all prevalent.
This could be a busy winter for healthcare workers because of more travel, less masking and a greater spread of respiratory viruses.
Texas father Stephen Balka rushed his son to the hospital this month after noticing changes in his health.
“When he would cough, it was almost as if he was struggling to breathe and struggling to cough all at the same time,” said Balka, whose son is recovering from RSV.
Balka’s son has been in the ICU recovering from RSV, a respiratory virus similar to the flu.
The CDC says there were more than 7,000 cases of RSV in just one week this month. That’s the highest in the past two years.
Dr. Jason Custer, from the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, told WJZ we are in the middle of RSV season at a time we’d usually just start to see cases.
“The flu season may be a couple weeks earlier than usual,” Dr. Custer said. “What actually started earlier than usual is RSV.”
Typically, RSV, the flu, and COVID would present in children with mild symptoms, but the numbers are creating a strain on providers.
“There are a lot of cases, which are inundating our emergency departments across the state and region, and then some percentage of those cases are landing kids in hospitals,” Dr. Custer said.
Federal health officials say we’re not powerless against the three respiratory viruses.
Doctors urge people to get up-to-date on flu and COVID vaccines.
“If people got their vaccines, we could get through this without getting into trouble,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID Response Coordinator.
“Just like we do with our seasonal flu vaccine, think of this as your seasonal COVID vaccine,” said Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, Anne Arundel Co. Executive.
Doctor Custer said pediatric ICU beds are at or near capacity across the state.
He urges parents to keep their children at home if they have any symptoms and practice good prevention measures like washing hands.