03 January 2024 , 20:17
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An urgent warning has been issued nationwide in the US, as health officials warn of a 'triple threat' - a surge in flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases all rising at once.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emergency room visits for flu and COVID-19 are increasing, while RSV is considered a high risk, particularly for babies and older people.
Dr Celine Gounder told CBS that since November alone, 10,000 lives have been claimed by COVID-19, making it clear the pandemic isn't yet over. "We are seeing flu rates spiking right now and COVID-19 is also on the rise. We're seeing emergency departments see more and more patients with COVID-19. We've had 10,000 people across the US die from COVID-19 since November, so this is definitely not gone. RSV, on the other hand, does seem to finally be plateauing and maybe on the down."
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Being aware that symptoms between the three viruses often overlap, she emphasised how important testing is to correctly identify each infection. When queried about how individuals and medical professionals can distinguish between the three threats, Dr Gounder responded: "It's really hard to tell the difference without a test. [People] really do need to get tested. We do have at-home COVID tests like we've had since the beginning of the pandemic, and those are still available."
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People are urged to wear masks and get tested if they have symptoms of either condition (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Dr Gounder, a health expert, urged people to get their jabs and use N95 masks for protection. She said: "Vaccines do work. They will not necessarily prevent all infections, but they will prevent you from getting really sick. Especially if you're somebody who doesn't want to miss time at work or at school."
She compared the current situation to previous years, saying this season is better than the last few since the pandemic began. But she warned that even before Covid-19, a bad flu season could overwhelm hospitals. Now, with new viruses around, our healthcare system faces more challenges.
She added: "Even before the pandemic, a bad flu season could really crush the hospital in terms of the number of patients coming in. And so now you have a whole new virus on top of what we were seeing before. And so there's really not a lot of bandwidth to take on more patients if people get sick."
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