Hospitals are already struggling to keep up with the number of cases they’re seeing as an early flu season spreads throughout the U.S.
In addition to this, there are other respiratory infections spreading as well. Over half of the states in the country are already experiencing higher-than-normal levels of flu cases, according to CNY Central. Most of the states are located in the South and South West, but the Northeast, Midwest, and West are catching up.
Children’s hospitals are finding themselves filled with kids that have RSV. In addition, there are still 3,000 hospital admissions for COVID-19 each day.
Experts report that there are at least 30% more patients in hospitals right now than there normally are this time of the year. Many of these patients are forced to wait in the emergency room until a hospital bed opens up.
One of the reasons for the rapid spread of other viruses is because COVID-19 rates are dropping. For a long time it was the dominating respiratory illness. The last time flu rates and hospitalizations were this high was in 2009 during the Swine Flu. Highest rates are among those under age 5 and over age 65.
Flu vaccine rates are currently down among adults, possibly because rates have been so low for the last two years. All Americans over the age of 6 are urged to get the flu vaccine. RSV is just as dangerous, but there is currently no vaccine for that illness.
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