Seasonal Respiratory Virus Season: How Are We Doing Right Now?
Robert H. Hopkins, Jr, MD, medical director, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) provides an update on incidence rates and virus patterns across different regions of the US.
The seasonal respiratory virus season in the northern hemisphere runs from October through April. As we are at about the halfway point of the season, we wanted to identify incidence rates and get some guidance from Robert H. Hopkins, Jr, MD, medical director, NFID, on the current state of the virus season focusing on COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.
The latest surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states the infection positivity rate of the 3 viruses remains stable or increased. “Nationally, influenza test positivity is stable at 18.6%. COVID-19 test positivity has remained stable at 6.9%. RSV test positivity increased to 11.6%,” CDC reported on its site.
And the federal agency said the amount of respiratory illness causing people to seek healthcare was characterized as high in the US.
“Nationally, emergency department visits are high for diagnosed influenza and very high for diagnosed RSV. Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are elevated,” CDC reported.
CDC sees the possibility of decline in COVID-19 and influenza based on emergency department visits.
“As we think about trends, influenza seems to be, maybe peaking out, and starting to decline a little bit. Although, we have to remember this is data that's coming out for the holiday season, so it may be under reporting, but hopefully we see a decline in influenza across most of the US,” Hopkins said.
He also points out that not all the seasonal viruses run in concert.
“You'll often see an increase in influenza and or COVID, kind of in parallel,” Hopkins said. “RSV tends to have a bit of its own pattern. RSV really typically starts in the southeast and spreads rapidly across the country. We're kind of right in the middle of the mix right now, and hopefully we're going to see a decline over the next few weeks. But we don't want to predict that yet. We need to see a little more data.”
This is the first part of a 3-part interview with Hopkins. Next week he will offer his insights on avian influenza and our preparedness around the virus.
