Duration of the video 02 minutes 19 seconds
The United States is seeing the spread of 3 respiratory viruses: influenza, Covid and respiratory syncytial virus, and the simultaneous outbreak of these diseases is putting pressure on hospitals, experts confirmed on Friday.
Jose Romero, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said yesterday: “We suspect that many children are now exposed to some respiratory viruses for the first time, because they avoided them during the epidemic” thanks to the measures that have been taken (masks, closures and more).
This phenomenon has also been observed in other countries, including France, which is experiencing a widespread outbreak of bronchiolitis, and the most common cause of bronchiolitis is respiratory syncytial virus infection.
Risk of severe symptoms
Symptoms can be similar between diseases, and although most patients recover within one to two weeks, young children and the elderly are at risk of developing severe symptoms.
Romero reiterated at the press conference that there is “high activity” recorded by the monitoring system for cold-like symptoms (fever, sore throat, etc.) in emergency departments and clinics.
“We are seeing the highest rate of hospital admissions due to the flu in a decade,” he said, adding that so far two children had died.
She pointed out that if the child is suffering from breathing difficulties, muscle aches or dehydration (dry lips, for example), it is important to introduce him to a doctor.
Experts say it is still unclear whether the flu virus circulating this year causes more severe symptoms of the disease, but the disease season began early.
pressure on hospitals
The United States still records more than 270,000 cases of the Covid-19 virus every week.
In turn, Don O’Connell of the US Department of Health said the pressure on hospitals is currently stronger in the northeastern states and in Washington state in the northwest of the country.
These two health officials recalled that there are vaccines for two of the three viruses involved and Romero said: “Vaccination is the best defense against influenza and Covid-19”.
Influenza vaccination rates in children remain below pre-epidemic levels.
There is still no vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, but the American group Pfizer announced this week the positive results for a clinical trial that could lead to the development of a vaccine for the next few years.
