“Tripledemia” in the United States: what it is and why they are asking to wear a mask again

Faced with the threat of “tripledemia” Y the significant increase in respiratory conditions, the US authorities are again requesting the use of masks indoors.

Is that after two years of distancing and wearing masks, the current absence of restrictions has once again included the influence Y other viruses in the medical landscape. This, added to the sixth wave of Covid, anticipates a very complex situation.

so much so that many hospitals I’m already with them collapsed services (or about to saturate).

What is triplademia?

The triplademia is the confluence of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus)the COVID-19 and the influencealready affecting millions of Americans.

So in a nutshell, the triplademia It is the coincidence in the environment of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19), the RSV virus and the flu virus.

It happens that this year the cases of flu have grown earlier than normal and are expected to increase further in the coming weeks.

Also, the RSV infected children (causing flu-like and COVID-19-like symptoms), rhinoviruses and enteroviruses they are already saturating children’s hospitals in several states of the country.

Tripledemia: a worrying situation

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walenskyindicated that the pressure on health systems led them to recommend the reintroduction of masks, he said The mirror.

“To protect communities in those circumstances at those high levels, We have recommended and continue to recommend that those communities wear a mask‘ the official said.

To that effect, on Friday, November 9, the state of Washington released a guide prepared by 25 heads of hospitals and 12 health officials asking people to wear masks indoors.

“As health officials and health leaders working to improve the health of Washington residents, we recommend everyone to wear a high quality mask, which fits well when there are others in the house to protect themselves from acquiring and spreading these infections to others,” they detailed.

Moreover, according to the aforementioned media, they asked citizens to execute pandemic practices how not to attend work or school in case of positivity to Covid, ventilate the rooms and a plan for the “rapid treatment” of vulnerable people.

Dean Sidelinger, a state epidemiologist, warned that Oregon already is feeling the effects of triplademia.

“The combination of increased cases of influenza, RSV and Covid-19 is pushing hospitals beyond their current ICU bed capacitysomething that has never happened during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Oregon,” he said of the situation they are experiencing.

Further recommendations on the use of masks

Similar regional trends have occurred as the County of The Angels (the most populous in the United States) has raised its community risk of Covid at a “high” level. and New York City health adviser Ashwin Vasan recommended the use of masks in popular public areas.

What is not yet clear, second The mirroris whether this will be necessary in some areas.

Two recent studies from Yale University have warned about overcrowding in American emergency rooms and placed the blame on “overwhelmed resources and symptoms of deeper problems in the health care system.”

Their findings showed that the average number of patients leaving emergency departments unseen nearly doubled, from 1.1% to 2.1%, between January 2017 and December 2021.