'Tripledemic' of flu, COVID-19, RSV putting strain on Bay Area hospitals
SAN FRANCISCO – It's being called the "tripledemic" as three winter viruses are hitting a lot of kids at the same time in the Bay Area. The confluence of the flu, COVID-19 and RSV is putting a strain on our healthcare system.
Children's hospitals in the Bay Area said they are near capacity. For example, Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland and San Francisco say they are full, but because of the short length of stay, beds do open up frequently.
To keep the tripledemic from getting worse, healthcare providers are giving people advice, that not many want to hear this holiday season.
Rachel Davy's nieces got RSV.
"They got sick at school. They got RSV, the two older ones, and they brought it home to the rest of the family," Davy told KPIX 5.
Davy has seen firsthand how the respiratory infection RSV has impacted her family.
"They are still just staying to themselves. They wanted me to come over. Her birthday was actually yesterday and we had to just stay home and do a FaceTime celebration," she said.
Santa Clara County said they are seeing unusually high levels of the flu and RSV, prompting healthcare officials to send out a warning at a briefing Wednesday.
Dr. Vidya Mony, a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist at Valley Medical Center, said, "If you are sick or anyone in your family is sick, please stay at home. Don't send your child to daycare or school and please don't go to work. This is the easiest way to spread infection to other people and increase the burden to health care systems."
What has healthcare providers concerned is how early the winter viruses are hitting this year. The reason why? Dr. David Cornfield with Stanford Children's Health believes it's because of the pandemic.
Kids that were isolated and masked didn't catch it until now. "We're seeing RSV, not just in kids that are a year old or two years old but in kids less than three years old all at once and it is the case that the first infection tends to be the most severe," Cornfield told KPIX 5.
While there is no vaccine for RSV, healthcare providers are urging people to get vaccinated for the flu and COVID-19. As Thanksgiving approaches, the advice is to get together wisely. Take the proper precautions to avoid bringing the virus home.
"Masking up at work, washing hands frequently. Definitely staying as safe as possible," Davy said.
Agencies in the Bay Area are also testing wastewater. They are seeing rising levels of the flu there, indicating a higher level of community risk.