The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that officials believe the United States has hit its peak for RSV infections.
It comes as the CDC issued an alert saying hospitals and emergency rooms could be overwhelmed due to influenza, COVID-19, and RSV.
“COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly,” the federal agency said in a weekly update. “Since the summer, public health officials have been tracking a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is caused by COVID-19. Influenza activity is growing in most parts of the country. RSV activity remains high in many areas.”
But Dr. Cohen told ABC on Friday that only a small number of hospitals are experiencing strain due to respiratory viruses. Pediatric hospitals, she said, have been managed to treat patients.
"As we see more cases and more folks getting sick over the next number of weeks, as we expect, we want to make sure we're reminding everyone about the treatment options that we have for COVID-19," the CDC director said. "And for flu, reminding doctors to use those ... treatment options for their patients."
Officials say symptoms of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, include a fever, cough, rapid breathing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing.
As for COVID-19, according to CDC’s historical data, while hospitalizations have ticked up in recent weeks, the increase is nowhere near previous “surges” during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 23,400 people were hospitalized for the virus as of Dec. 9, while on Dec. 11, 2022—about a year ago—more than 54,000 people were in the hospital for COVID-19.
Data from the CDC also show that RSV, COVID-19, and influenza made up about 8.5 percent of combined emergency department visits as of the week ending Dec. 17, 2022, or about a year ago. For the week ending on Dec. 9, 2023, the combined emergency department visits for the same viruses was 5.1 percent. Influenza was about 2.4 percent, COVID-19 was 2 percent, and RSV was 0.8 percent.
“In some parts of the country, hospital beds for children are already nearly as full as they were this time last year,” the CDC said on Dec. 14. “If these trends continue, the situation at the end of this month could again strain emergency departments and hospitals. The strain on the healthcare system could mean that patients with other serious health conditions may face delays in receiving care.”
“Healthcare providers should administer influenza, COVID-19, and RSV immunizations now to patients if recommended,” the CDC stated.
New COVID Variant
It comes as the CDC provided an update on the JN.1 variant about a week before, saying the COVID-19 strain makes up between 15 percent and 29 percent of cases across the United States.“The continued growth of JN.1 suggests that it is either more transmissible or better at evading our immune systems. At this time, there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants,” the agency said.
But it added that there is no indication that the COVID-19 variant is more easily transmitted. It’s also not clear if it presents different symptoms than previous strains.
“The types of symptoms and how severe they are usually depend more on a person’s immunity and overall health rather than which variant causes the infection,” the CDC said, adding that “activity is likely to increase over the next month.”