Infections in 2023

HAVE YOU HAD A RECENT RESPIRATORY ILLNESS? Did symptoms such as a cough or runny nose linger longer than expected? Today, I want to share with you the findings of seven interviews conducted by NBC News. Today, we explore infections in 2023.

This year has felt different. Few masks in public settings. Seattle has been unusually warm and dry.

But there is one more thing: When folks around me — patients, family, or friends — get a cold or the flu, it takes a long time to go away. Some even have their symptoms return a week or so after that.

Are my perceptions correct? Today, we look at infection trends and whether infections this year are worse than expected.

Current Infection Trends: Is A Syndemic Coming?

What will we likely see this year regarding COVID-19, the flu, and RSV? Will we get a repeat of last year’s “tripledemic?”

“Forget the ‘tripledemic.’ The U.S. is headed for a ‘syndemic’ this winter — and experts warn we’re not prepared.” 

That’s the headline I recently read on Fortune.com. A syndemic is defined by two or more illness states interacting poorly with each other and negatively influencing the mutual course of each disease trajectory.

U.S. hospitalization rates from RSV and flu are rising, and outpatient visits for respiratory illnesses are abnormally high, according to CDC data.

I don’t think we are heading to a bad year.

Why I Might Be Wrong

First, the good news. While hospitalization rates from the flu, RSV, and COVID-19 are rising in aggregate, they are still lower than we saw in the pre-pandemic years of 2022 and 2021.

On the other hand, the preliminary winter forecast is out. As the growing COVID-19 strain JN.1 Pirola becomes dominant, numbers are forecast to increase quickly in the coming weeks.

Moreover, RSV hospitalizations are the highest since 2020, except last winter. And flu hospitalizations are the highest they’ve been at this time of year since 2017, except last year.

Experts Take on This Year’s Infection Picture

After reading the opinions of the experts in the Fortune article, I believe that this winter’s respiratory infection season may be similar to the years before the COVID-19 pandemic peak.

My Take – Infections in 2023

I suspect that this will not be a particularly bad respiratory infection season. Nevertheless, it is challenging to predict the future regarding respiratory pathogens.

We will see the usual suspects: COVID-19, flu, rhinovirus, RSV, etc. I hope the symptoms resemble a common cold for those who get COVID.

COVID-19 remains the virus that is the most likely to land us in the hospital. We must watch the variant “Pirola,” BA.2.97, and its descendants (including JN.1). These newer viral forms may spread faster than historical strains.

Staying Healthy – Infections in 2023

Here are seven tips for staying healthy in the winter season:

1. Limit the spread of germs. Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze. No tissue? Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow. Regularly wash your hands using soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If you can’t wash, try an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. 

2. Stay hydrated. 

3. Increase your vitamin D. Low vitamin D levels can make you likely to suffer from illness. Moderate sunshine exposure and eating foods high in vitamin D (like salmon and mushrooms) can help.

4. Stay rested. Insufficient sleep can tamp down your immune system. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night lets your body recover and protect against sickness.

6. Get vaccinated. 

7. See a healthcare provider when you’re sick.

Please take care.

Get an email whenever Dr. Michael Hunter publishes.
drmichaelhunter.medium.com.

Thank you for reading “Winter’s Lingering Cold and Flu Symptoms: Uninvited Guests That Won’t Take the Hint!”