I am not a doctor so what I say is pretty worthless, but I feel like all of our immune systems are just completely fucked and out of sync after Covid and that we’ll rock back to being pretty even but what the hell do I know?

Answer: Nothing

The Inquirer could write this article every December.

Hospitalization rates ALWAYS increase in the late-fall/early winter.

Something is definitely going around in my extended circle of friends. But I have no idea whether this is unusual compared to every other winter because I'm not super observant in that way.

We keep getting stories like this one that seem to contradict what we were previously told. I feel like last year or last month or two years ago or sometimes since March 2020 there was a story that hospitals lose money when fewer than 90% of beds are full.

It’s more, Covid can make your immune system forget what to do, similar to measles. It makes you more susceptible to other viruses.

The idea that covid lockdowns weakened our immune systems has been debunked, especially considering things have been pretty much normal for a while now. Covid itself will fuck up your immune system though.

That’s true, but at my hospital at least, it is unlike anything we have ever seen before. The system is stretched in a way that I’m not sure is sustainable, and they’ve told us to buckle down to at least April.

There is definitely an incentive to keep hospitals at close to capacity, that’s just economics. That being said, the surge we’re seeing right now is nothing I have ever seen before in my decade+ working at a Philly hospital.

I’m confused, if it’s debunked, Why does the article and Covid 19 White House coordinator seem to lend credit to the concept? Or is the concept of non-exposure different from weakened immune system?

>What makes this season unique isn’t the emergence of a new virus but that many are getting sick after not being exposed to flu and RSV in recent years. It’s a concept experts call “immunity debt.”

>This has left the population “more susceptible to a bigger wave of infections,” said Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

>Prior to the pandemic, nearly all kids caught RSV before their second birthday. But after two winters of masking and social distancing to prevent COVID, the cold-like virus has been infecting a population of children who did not build up antibodies in their first years.

What are the things you’re seeing most of, since it’s not flu/Covid? RSV? If so, is it primarily children?

If it’s the things mentioned in the article like heart disease, do you think lack of preventative care during Covid etc could be responsible for an uptick? Longer lasting side effects of having Covid starting to show?

I should have specified, I work at a children’s hospital so it’s primarily RSV, though flu is definitely in full swing as well.

That said, we are just generally seeing higher acuity patients across the board. All our kids are sicker and require more care, on average. I don’t know for certain, but I would guess it’s a nice mixture of many things; reduced access to care (during COVID, due to clinician burnout/availability, long wait times, cost, etc.), side effects and a changing landscape of clinical presentation, mistrust of the healthcare system as a whole, etc. It’s messy.

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You are the salt of the earth, I appreciate what you do. And I appreciate this unique insight.

>I think 1 of the main issues is once covid happened people used it as an excuse to not get shots for anything else and Americans tend to be individualistic to the point of being destructive. I can't tell you how times once you through the bs it always comes down to I don't feel like it.

My friends kids got RSV. Was in the hospital for a week. It’s no joke.

I read that Lakenau had their ER shut down the other day because there were 50+ patients waiting there to get a room upstairs.

This spring I got a cold, then COVID, then another cold that turned into a sinus infection. Took me out for a good month.

I got RSV fairly early in the season after traveling internationally, and let me tell you, it knocked me on my ass. I felt much worse with RSV than I did when I had COVID. Ran fever over 100 for over a week, no energy, coughing my head off and even codeine wouldn’t relieve the cough, had to sleep sitting up because I felt like I couldn’t breathe at all laying down. Would never want to experience that again.

Efff I am so sorry. I hope you’re feeling better now!

I still mask everywhere because I’ve been doing the disability and chronic illness calculus for other things for almost a decade now. One moment, one memory isn’t worth extended illness that prevents you from doing anything at all for an indeterminate amount of time. I went to the Christmas Village today and immediately left. It was PACKED, shoulder to shoulder. No masks, children and adults open mouth coughing. Being outdoors means nothing when you’re that close to others, especially if they aren’t even bothering to cover their mouths

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My fiance had rsv and it wiped him out, was way worse than when he had covid. my coworker (lives in blackwood nj)'s husband currently has the flu. it's rough out here

I saw that on the nursing subreddit btw fyi.

same here. in october i had a brief 105° afternoon that kicked off weeks of coughing and zero energy. all of the symptoms were super intense. then had covid over thanksgiving.

Yes but there's also a mass exodus of skilled healthcare workers on top of packed hospitals. We don't have nearly enough staff and the ones that are still there don't really care enough anymore. It's truly a terrifying time to have to be a patient.

I’m still recovering from RSV. Over two weeks of coughing, headaches, congestion, and no sleep. Finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Shit sucks

Kids were in CHOP with RSV. That sucked. Now my wife and I currently have the flu. It’s mild compared to other flus I’ve had but still sucks

Are we still flattening the curve or what?

drop it sweaty, he told you it's deboonked!

Reddit Science

I'm old AF and I feel like I never heard the term RSV until this year somehow.

The UK is saying the same thing as they deal with unusually high cases of strep and scarlet fever. The chief medical advisor at UKHSA said,

>But on Monday, Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at UKHSA, confirmed for the first time on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that lockdown did play a role.

>“We’re back to normal social mixing and the patterns of diseases that we’re seeing in the last number of months are out of sync with the normal seasons as people mix back to normal and move around and pass infections on,” she said.

Ugh. I had Covid on thanksgiving day. Super mild. Just got it again last week and it’s far worse, thankfully I was prescribed Paxlovid and it seems to be working.

My poor wife has a brutal sinus infection AND Covid at the same time, brutal. There are six of us in the house and it’s spreading over and over.

I have heard some talk about the fact that it just doesn’t have to be this way, in a sense, it’s voluntary for adults and even involuntary for children to be sick in general. We shouldn’t accept that people need to be exposed to these illnesses. Just put masks on, social distancing as a norm, no intimate contact unless in a bubble, and quarantine if you have a cough/cold. And then you don’t need forced upon you antibodies.

If you continue that for your whole life, can’t go wrong.

You got a flu shot, you’re not taking up an icu bed, it happens. People get sick. It’s hospital occupancy that matters

They chart shows 3 to 4 % am I missing something

Oh that’s rough! My parents also got COVID back to back, they had paxlovid both times though.

So what… we’re like all immunocompromised now?? Is it forever???

If you’re getting Covid repeatedly or experiencing long COVID, yeah that’s quite likely. Mask up.

Unfortunately wearing a mask isn't statistically significant in regards to being prophylactic. Mask reduce spread if the wearer is infected, less so the person that's getting infected.

Think of it this way, the mask is a filter. When it first comes out of your mouth, it's going to be bunched up in droplets, not fully aerosol. However, once it's in the air, it'll be able to get through the mask or at least on its surfaces that you inevitably touch.

People should wear masks if they are sick or have been around sick people. Telling people to wear masks to protect themselves gives them a false sense of security.

Edit: The person below me accused me a lying. Yes, your doctor might tell you to wear a mask, but it does statistically very little. However, some people need that little very little.

Wear your masks, be safe, just don't think it's a safety blanket. Location can override a mask easily.

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Prior to covid, we wore masks in hospitals if someone came in coughing because TB is extremely contagious, as is measles, as is chickenpox (for those who may not have had prior infection or vaccination) and precautions are extremely important.

Masks protect people from respiratory viruses as well as a myriad of other things.

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Weeds out the weak. No other species of animal, plant, or fungi have as high of a population of weak/vulnerable individuals as Homo sapiens sapiens. We breed weakness and encourage it, now more than ever.

People could listen to their HCWs about how it’s different though

Get your shots people

Flu every year

COVID shot every year most likely after you got your first rounds of shots

Found the weak thinker.

Nah nah just don’t look up

Paoli was sort of like that last year. Not shut down but the lobby became full and people were being treated in offices. Had to go a few times and it was crazy how little space there was for everyone

Generally if you don't have kids, or deal with lots of kids, it really isn't in your world view. RSV generally runs rampant through tiny kiddos, and it kind of stayed within the land of tiny kiddos and their adults. But since everyone's immune systems are fucked from getting covid, and the numbers are SO high that it's breaking its bounds of the pre-school set.

There's an RSV vaccine in the works too. Hopefully it'll be out by next year.

Out of curiosity, how are adults finding out they have RSV? I know they test kids but are they testing adults regularly?

I used to believe what you’re saying here. But I was wrong. Wearing a fit tested, NIOSH-approved N95 mask is extremely effective at decreasing the likelihood of getting COVID-19 regardless of means of transmission. Just wearing an N95 and doing a user seal check is very helpful.

I’d respectfully request edit your post, because it seems that you wish for people to wear masks but what you’re saying is not accurate with what we know.

A bit of disciple and habit forming behavior regarding wearing an N95 is within many people’s ability. It’s worth it to just try.

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I think there are tests that test for all 3 (including an at home test).

When I went to urgent care over a cough, they tested for all 3

You recovered from Covid and got it again 2 weeks later? Is that even possible ?

Healthcare facilities are trying to urge the feds to declare a healthcare emergency so they can get "access to emergency funding" to fight RSV and flu. They got used to the declaration during covid and want to get it renewed.

Yes - you can ask for a 4-plex test (COVID, flu a & b, RSV)

It’s how I found out I had RSV this past October (I’m 27). I was convinced it was the flu or COVID.

Thank you for your kind words!

Apparently so. First positive was 11/24, second was 12/14. I had tested negative in between. Maybe it’s possible that it was with me all the time, but this current case has me down and out.