Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated a congressional subcommittee Thursday about cases of respiratory illness in the US due to three viruses: flu, the coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
“RSV season is in full swing,” Cohen told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
“Flu season is just beginning across most of the country, though accelerating fast, and while we’re seeing relatively low levels of Covid, Covid is still the primary cause of new respiratory hospitalizations and deaths, with about 15,000 hospitalizations and about 1,000 deaths every single week,” she said.
“We are seeing a lot of RSV, particularly in the southern part of the country, so we’re near peak is what I would say for RSV,” Cohen said.
Probably not. The risk tradeoff likely isn’t there, RSV isn’t that dangerous outside the old and very young. A vaccine for infants would be nice, but it’s extremely hard to get those approved.