Winter officially begins Thursday, and with the cold season comes an expected rise in rates of flu and Covid, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. is seeing a “sharp increase” in flu levels immediately, particularly within the south, Cohen said Wednesday in an interview. Covid cases also look like climbing nationally, she said, while cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, appear to have reached their highest point this season.
“We’re seeing RSV peak a bit sooner, but we don’t imagine we’re near yet at the height of flu or Covid,” Cohen said.
As of Dec. 9, the weekly variety of positive RSV tests within the U.S. had fallen around 16% in comparison with the previous week.
The pattern is different from that of last yr, Cohen said, when the three viruses “all appeared to peak around the identical time.”
After an early start in October 2022, flu infection rates topped off in late November and early December. RSV infections similarly peaked in November, although rates typically peak within the winter.
A dramatic spike in severe RSV illnesses overwhelmed kid’s hospitals last yr, most probably because many babies born throughout the pandemic weren’t exposed to RSV of their first yr or two of life due to masking and social distancing.
But this yr, Cohen said, “we’re not seeing any strains generally on our pediatric hospitals, so we expect that it is a more typical season of RSV.”
Covid infections also look similar this season in comparison with last, she added.
“Covid is causing essentially the most hospitalizations and deaths of all of the viruses, nevertheless it’s not seeming to be more severe than what we were seeing last yr right now, which is nice news,” Cohen said.
Nonetheless, the JN.1 variant — which accounts for around 21% of Covid cases nationally — could speed up the virus’ spread. Cohen said the variant appears to be more transmissible than other circulating strains, though vaccines should still offer good protection.
“That is exactly why we would like folks to get the updated Covid vaccine, since it does map to the changes that we’re seeing within the virus,” she said.
The CDC sent an alert last week warning health care providers about low vaccination rates for Covid, flu and RSV.
Around 18% of adults and eight% of kids ages 6 months and up have received updated Covid shots, which have been available since September and goal a variant called XBB.1.5. A preprint study that hasn’t been peer-reviewed suggests the updated mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer boost antibody protection against JN.1, as well.
This yr’s flu shot, similarly, appears to be a great match for circulating strains: It reduced the danger of flu hospitalizations by 52% within the Southern Hemisphere, in keeping with a CDC report.
To this point this yr, the CDC estimates that 42% of adults and 43% of kids have gotten flu shots, compared with 47% of adults and 57% of kids vaccinated throughout the previous flu season.
Cohen said she made sure her own children, ages 9 and 11, got their Covid and flu shots.
RSV vaccines, meanwhile, are latest this yr, and only two groups — pregnant people and adults ages 60 and up — are eligible. The virus is usually mild in young, healthy adults, but babies under 6 months old are particularly vulnerable to severe outcomes, so the shot for pregnant people is supposed to transfer antibodies through the placenta.
Just 17% of older adults had gotten RSV shots as of Dec. 9, in keeping with the CDC. Data is not available for pregnant people, a few of whom have reported issues getting the shot covered by insurance or finding it via pharmacies or doctors’ offices.
The FDA has also approved an injectable RSV drug for infants called nirsevimab, however the CDC reported a supply shortage in October. The businesses behind the drug made a further 77,000 doses available in November, and 230,000 more doses are expected to turn into available in January.
So far as holiday travel and gatherings are concerned, Cohen said people should consider not only their very own infection risk, but in addition the risks to those they’ll rejoice with.
“Are you going to Christmas with the grandparents? Are you going to be around work colleagues who’re fighting cancer?” she said. “Be sure that that you just as a person are considering not nearly yourself, but about also who’re you around.”