The picture is clearest for respiratory syncytial virus, which is unlikely to cause another significant wave of illnesses this winter, said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health. RSV typically causes colds, although it can be severe in infants, toddlers and older people.
“To my eyes, it looks like it’s going down … but it’s not plunging,” said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health. “There’s still very high flu activity.”
While it’s a good sign that hospitalization rates haven’t continued to climb, it’s too early to say the worst is over, said Talia Quandelacy, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health. Typically, flu cases and hospitalizations rise following the holidays, but this has been an unusual season, with flu cases taking off significantly earlier than they have over the last decade, she said.
“We’re continuing to see far more people hospitalized with flu than at this time in a typical year,” said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health. “I think that’s the big concern for the weeks ahead.”
“It may be that the (pediatric) hospitals get a break and the adult hospitals are in for some strain,” said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists 125 items with medical shortages, ranging from an asthma drug to vials of sterile water at certain sizes. The ones that affect the most people are shortages of Adderall, which treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the antibiotic amoxicillin, said Dr. Kelsey Schwander, a clinical pharmacist at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus.
While it’s nowhere near the level reached in mid-January, when 1,676 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the omicron surge, the concern is that there’s less capacity in the health care system to absorb an influx of patients, said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health.
In late October, the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub released projections that the country could have a wave that’s similar to what it saw over the summer, said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health. But hospitalizations are already where they were during the summer peak, and the cases and positivity rate suggest infections aren’t slowing down yet, she said.
