BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Health professionals in the Lehigh Valley are warning people about what they call a “tripledemic.”
COVID-19 continues to spread, flu season is expected to be severe, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is plaguing children earlier than normal.
Lehigh Valley Health Network held a Facebook town hall Tuesday to address the rise in cases of coronavirus, influenza and RSV. The three illnesses pose serious risk to the very young, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
- COVID-19 continues to spread, flu season is expected to be severe, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is plaguing children earlier than normal, experts say
- Dr. Tibi Villalobos, an LVHN pediatric infectious disease specialist, said many children were not exposed to viruses during the pandemic and therefore they did not build up immunity
- LVHN held a virtual town hall on Tuesday to try to get out warnings about the "tripledemic"
Dr. Timothy Friel, chairman of the department of medicine at LVHN, said the preventative measures used during the height of the pandemic protected us from COVID as well as other very common respiratory viruses, but now our ability to develop an immune response has diminished.
“As we move into this new winter, what we are seeing is there is a whole group of individuals, especially small kids, who've never been exposed to RSV, who have never been exposed to flu, many of them have never been vaccinated for flu,” Friel said.
The infectious disease specialist said the fact that all three viruses are going to be happening simultaneously is what is most concerning from a health care system standpoint.
“We're seeing a clear uptick earlier than ever and at higher volumes and levels than we've ever seen before, primarily impacting our kids, but also impacting adults,” he said, referring to the spread of RSV.
Dr. Tibi Villalobos, an LVHN pediatric infectious disease specialist, weighed in on what the RSV picture looks like among children in the Valley.
This is totally different, what we're having right now in the valley and in the rest of the country, compared to what we traditionally see in RSV.”Dr. Tibi Villalobos, an LVHN pediatric infectious disease specialist
“This is totally different," Villalobos said. "What we're having right now in the valley and in the rest of the country, compared to what we traditionally see in RSV,” she said.
Villalobos said that many children were not exposed to viruses during the pandemic and therefore they did not build up immunity. Now, many of them are being exposed, getting sick, and taking the illnesses home to younger siblings.
“So there is a continuation of transmission right now from the school, the daycare, and family that we haven't seen in recent years,” she said. "And this is overwhelming.”
She noted there is no vaccine for RSV, although one is currently being looked at by the FDA.
Meanwhile, Friel said the viruses are back with a vengeance and advises people to take precautions such as getting vaccinated, washing hands often, and keeping an eye out for symptoms that may crop up.
He said he and his colleagues are informing the public now to lessen the blow of when the tripledemic reaches its peak.
