NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee is currently the number one state in the country for flu cases, according to surveys and a CDC map that places the Volunteer State at the highest level for flu activity.
As we head into the holidays, doctors are warning of a new wave of sickness and a possible “tripledemic – listing the the flu, RSV and COVID-19 as the components that make up the viral trio.
This fall, Middle Tennessee children’s hospitals have reported a high number of children hospitalized with RSV. Plus, local urgent care center reported that a record number of patients came in for care after Thanksgiving.
“We can’t prognosticate or ‘guesstimate’ what’s going to happen in the future, we can only use the data we have here and now, that is the hospital situation is not good, not only for respiratory illnesses like RSV, but for any child or adult for that matter who may need a hospital bed who would find it occupied with someone with an RSV infection,” said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News Medical Director.
Knoxville, Nashville, and Chattanooga are three of the top ten cities in the country for flu cases, according to data provided by Walgreens.
Dr. Ashton says the holidays could worse the situation and create further spread of multiple infections.
“We know that as people shift and they move around and congregate and are in cold weather areas of the country, indoors with poor ventilation, these respiratory pathogens like to do their thing, spread and transmit disease, and infect people, and that’s what we’re seeing,” said Dr. Ashton.
The CDC says a tripledemic was not seen last season due to increased masking and a lower number of RSV cases.