The clunky word “tripledemic” is now on many lips. It means we now face a winter with three different respiratory viruses with similar symptoms are spreading rapidly, and stressing hospital capacity.
Public health is not rocket science. The best way to frustrate the tiny danger is for people to mask in public and, whenever possible, to get shots to protect themselves.
The first virus sending people to the ER and ICU is our now familiar foe COVID-19 — which on the cusp of 2023, despite having become less virulent as it has evolved, is still killing more than 450 Americans per day. The second is the perennial scourge called influenza, for which hospitalizations are spiking. The third is RSV, a pathogen that, while no fun to catch no matter how old you are, is especially hard on infants.
When in public and indoors, covering your face with a high-quality mask remains the simplest and easiest line of defense against the triumvirate, akin to wearing sunscreen in the blazing heat. The second weapon in the arsenal is the needle, which delivers imperfect but safe and fairly reliable protection against two of the viruses.
COVID is no longer truly a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” — in November, 90% of those who died of COVID were 65 or older, many of whom had their first two or even three shots. But still just 14% of Americans by most recent count have had their bivalent boosters, which guard against the newest variants. Older folks especially, with weaker immune systems, need these extra shots so a bout with COVID doesn’t become deadly.
Flu shots are available at your local pharmacy. It takes a few seconds and may well spare you and those you love from many days of misery. This year’s shot is a good match to the strains that are circulating.
As for RSV, it has no general population shot yet (just one for preemies and other highly vulnerable babies), but a few good candidates are in the pipeline. Step on it.
