Bacteria are being tracked by COVID mitigation–for us

June 14, 2021 –People aren’t the only ones out of lockdown.

For a while, Pandemic It suppressed some of the more typical seasonal viral illnesses. Some of the signs are anecdotal, especially about the small number. influenza And RS virus (RSV) Infectious disease.

But now the data is coming in. CDC I issued a health recommendation Notify doctors and caregivers that respiratory syncytial virus cases are increasing in parts of the southern United States.

With this increase in activity, the CDC is encouraging extensive testing of RSV among patients who test negative for respiratory illness. Coronavirus..

The CDC noted an increase in RSV-positive reactions in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Viruses that get out of lockdown

Early onset is awkward because RSV is common in the fall and winter, says pediatrician Dr. Martha F. Perry.

Perry, an associate professor and medical director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Pediatric Primary Care Clinic, said COVID-19 mitigation measures could keep out so many viruses that they could start to spread at the same time. I will.

“There is an increasing number of presentations to our primary care clinics, emergency rooms and emergency facilities for viral diseases,” she said.

“The concern is whether we can see summer and winter waves at the same time,” she added.

Perry said experts are closely watching the US RS virus, because in Australia, where the season is opposite to the US, there is already a summer surge in respiratory syncytial virus after the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. Because it is being watched.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency Report Recent Outbreak In Brooklyn on RSV. According to the city’s health department, 10 cases of RSV were recorded in Brooklyn during the last week of February. There were 294 cases from April 4th to April 10th.

Ah Research Published in preprint medRxiv by Parsa Hodjat, Showed a sharp increase in seasonal respiratory viruses, including RSV, in Houston, Texas, after relaxing restrictions on COVID-19. This study has not yet been peer reviewed.

Researchers found that by May 25, RSV cases had increased by 166% compared to April.

Parainfluenza-A common virus that can cause respiratory illnesses such as cold,bronchitis, Croup, And pneumonia — According to a survey, Houston increased by 424% from March to April. foundIt also increased by 189% between April and May 25th.

Seasonal coronaviruses usually occur in winter and decrease in March, but in Houston they increased by 211% from March to April and continued to increase in May.

With rhinovirus Enterovirus In Houston, the number of infected people increased by 85% from March to April.

From nothing to many

At some point this winter, Dr. Costi Siffli, director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said his hospital had zero cases of influenza and few cases of respiratory syncytial virus.

Recently, he said he saw an increase in cases of parainfluenza, which he rarely saw during a pandemic.

He also said that some patients could be infected with multiple viruses at the same time after several years of non-COVID infection.

As a very rare example, an infant at the University of Virginia Health Center was hospitalized for parainfluenza, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and rhinovirus this week /Enterovirus at the same time.

“I have never seen a patient or child infected with four different respiratory viruses at the same time,” says Sifri.

He states that it is likely to remain very rare, but “multiple respiratory organs” Virus infection At the same time, it is certainly possible, especially in the fall, as people return indoors and do not wear masks. “

He points out that superficial COVID-19 infections are rare, but it is not uncommon for other viruses to be so transmitted. Hand wash Or other disinfection habits can lead to an increase in respiratory infections other than COVID.

He said people who escaped the common cold and flu through a pandemic could be susceptible to the re-emerging virus, but it’s too early to tell.

In the face of uncertainty, “it is our mission to really promote influenza vaccination,” says Shifuri.

According to CDC data, the US Institute of Health confirmed only 2,150 cases of influenza between September 27, 2020 and May 29, 2021 (although it had actual influenza). There may be more people).

For comparison, between October 2019 and April 2020, the CDC had at least 39 million people. I got the flu..

Maximo Brito, MD, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, states that there has been no increase in threat and has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

However, doctors have more diagnostic challenges.

Currently, “all flu-like illnesses brought into the emergency room are COVID until proven otherwise,” he said, but other respiratory illnesses need to be taken seriously again. Masu.

CDC test Check for type A and type B seasonal influenza virus and coronavirus at the same time. This test is used by the Public Health Institute. Testing for the virus at the same time gives public health officials important information about how influenza and COVID-19 are spreading and what precautions are needed.

FDA has a CDC Emergency use authorization For combined testing.

The CDC recommends that all people over the age of 6 months be vaccinated against the flu vaccine annually.

Brito says which stock to predict vaccine During the pandemic, the flu is so controlled that it needs to be protected.

He also said he was worried that false information about COVID-19 would spread and people would be even more hesitant to get the flu vaccine next season. Last season, only 49.2% of Americans said. Influenza vaccination..

Brito said he is now seeing people in his clinic, who had no doubts about routine immunization in the past, now hesitating.

“I’m worried they might make the wrong choice in the future,” he said. “I hope I’m wrong.”