(Original title: Not just the worst flu season in 10 years, major medical journal warns: flu, RSV and new crown hit the United States this winter)
Financial Associated Press, November 9 (editor Zhou Ziyi)The United States is currently in the midst of the worst flu season in the past 10 years, along with an increase in upper respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. The United States could face severe pressure from the “three mountains” of influenza, the RSV virus, and the new corona virus this winter.
The British Medical Journal (BMJ), as famous as The Lancet and one of the four leading medical journals in the world, published an article on the 7th entitled “The United States is facing the threat of influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and new triple pressure coronavirus “.
According to Jose Romero, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, non-coronavirus-related respiratory diseases such as influenza virus, RSV, rhinovirus, and enterovirus are returning to the United States in the midst of the general epidemic of the new coronavirus.
Currently in the United States many effective preventive measures (such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance, etc.) are no longer used and the vaccination rate of the latest bivalent vaccine is not high, resulting in the unbridled spread of the virus.
influence
Cases of seasonal flu continue to increase across the country, with the southeastern and south central United States having the highest levels of viral activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data shows that two children died from the flu.
Note: U.S. influenza cases for May-October 2022 (weeks 21-43)
The CDC also estimates that at least 1.6 million people will fall ill this flu season (2022-23), 13,000 will be hospitalized and 730 will die. The CDC recommends that people over the age of six months get an annual flu shot.
“We are seeing the highest rate of flu hospitalizations in a decade,” said Jose Romero.
The number of people admitted to hospital with the flu virus rose to 4,326 in the week ending November 4, nearly doubling from 2,361 the week before.
respiratory syncytial virus
Meanwhile, cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have increased across much of the country. Most children become infected with RSV by age 2, with symptoms similar to a mild cold, but for some infants and young children it can be dangerous, even fatal.
In the United States, 58,000 to 80,000 children under the age of 5 are hospitalized each year due to RSV infection. Severe risk groups include premature babies, infants under 6 months of age, and infants under 2 years of age with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease.
RSV can also be serious in the elderly, and virus infection can worsen some chronic health problems (eg, asthma, congestive heart failure).
Eight out of 10 parts of the country saw levels of RSV infection “significantly higher than in the same period in previous years,” Romero said.
There is currently no vaccine for the virus, although several candidates are in development.
new crown
In the week ending November 2, the number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations of new coronary pneumonia in the United States increased slightly for the first time after several months of consecutive declines, with 273,100 confirmed cases in a single week, a slight increase from 260,800 la Previous week.
Several states in the southern and western United States experienced strong increases, according to monitoring data. Cases in Nevada, New Mexico and Utah have increased by 50% in the past two weeks; hospitalizations increased 20 percent or more in eight states; and deaths remained at around 350 per day.
The Omicron BA.5 variant remains by far the most common new coronavirus, but two new variants, BQ.1.1 and BQ.1, are spreading wildly, increasing from around 3% two weeks ago to around 11% of today. And this winter, other new variants of the novel coronavirus may appear.
