Lungs under siege: flu, RSV, COVID peaking
...and Norovirus is coming home from school to your bathroom, too. The good news? Respiratory diseases don't look much different than before the pandemic, and it may be the mildest COVID winter yet
Katelyn Jetelina, PhD, one of the best epidemiology-to-real-English translators ever, updates where we are with contagious diseases, which are probably peaking after the holidays, the best annual disease-spreading opportunity.
One out of six pediatric visits to the doctor is for fever, cough, or sore throat right now, but Jetelina say’s that’s not unusual for the time of year. Three things that are different this year:
One virus you might be hearing more about is RSV. RSV has been around forever, but Jetelina notes it’s being tested more, so identified more often as the underlying culprit more often. While RSV starts out like a cold, coughing and wheezing can linger for weeks after a severe case, and in infants it can be a big problem. Read more about RSV here.
There’s more Norovirus as usual, wreaking havoc with GI tracks. Read more about Norovirus here. It can rip through schools and then homes. It’s extremely contagious and spreads through surfaces. Hand disinfectant doesn’t do much to Norovirus, but good handwashing does. Use bleach to disinfect surfaces.
After a big summer COVID wave, more vaccinations, and fewer mutations, COVID is still increasing right now, but overall we may have our mildest COVID winter yet, Jetelina says.
Any time a virus shows up in headlines that include the word “China,” people pay attention. But Jetelina notes that HMPV has been around for 40 years with resulting high immunity levels and causes less severe disease than the flu or COVID. Levels in the US are low. It’s OK to not worry about this one when your brain gets going at 3 am.
If you missed the click-through above to Jetelina’s great Substack site, here you go:
