Medical experts are calling this winter the tripledemic winter. With having the flu season come early, COVID-19, and now RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Lately many children have been filling the hospitals with RSV and many of these patients are testing positive for more than just one of the viruses. Like COVID-19 protocols, Dr. Jay Varma, Chief Medical Adviser at Kroll.com and Director of the Weill Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response, says the best way to avoid getting sick is wearing a high quality medical mask and staying away from sick people. While there is no immunization for RSV many experts have said that we should stay up to date with our COVID shots and our flu shots. 

The RSV rates were low during 2020-2021 due to the COVID precautions, but now that these precautions are relaxing, the cases have spiked, first in the spring and now even more. RSV is more common in young children, older individuals, and immunocompromised people. On an average RSV leads to 58,000 hospitalizations for children under 5. 177,000 hospitalizations were people 65 years of age or older. Make sure that as the weather is getting colder, to take care of yourself and stay warm and safe.