Top US health officials have finally acknowledged that the pandemic restrictions they are backing may have fueled a boom in respiratory infections that are currently overwhelming hospitals.
Health systems across the country have been marginalized after unusually high numbers of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, with some pediatric units forced to set up inflatable tents to treat patients in parking lots.
There are signs that both viruses may already have peaked, but last week the country was dealt another blow when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they were investigating a rise in severe Strep A infections – a normally harmless bacterial infection has killed more than a dozen children in the UK and is rising across Europe.
In a statement to , the CDC said it had “heard from and investigated an apparent increase in iGAS infections among children in parts of the United States from some physicians and state health officials.”
In a noticeable shift in rhetoric, the agency added: “Like many infections during the COVID-19 pandemic, iGAS infections dropped significantly.
“Mitigation measures (e.g. closing schools and workplaces, masking) taken in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic helped contain the spread of many viruses and bacteria.”
This map shows where in the US an increase in Strep A infections has been reported so far. Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest in the country, says it is treating four times more children with Strep A than this time last year. The CDC has only confirmed “anecdotal reports” of rising infections in the US
But the CDC says it’s not clear if this year will see more infections than previous years, or if the wave will hit America earlier than usual.
Immune naivety contributed to the outbreak of a ‘triple disease’ in the US this year, with RSV and the flu erupting alongside Covid this winter.
Bacterial infections like Strep A often occur after viral illnesses because a person’s immune system is exhausted and can’t fight the bacteria as effectively.
Alarms have been raised that Strep A infections could be deadlier this year than previous ones after a spate of severe cases in the UK caused 19 deaths, an unusually high number.
It is generally a mild disease that is most dangerous for the elderly. About 14,000 to 25,000 Americans become infected and 1,500 to 2,300 die each year, according to the CDC.
At least two children have died from Strep A in Colorado in recent weeks, raising fears the US could suffer a pediatric outbreak similar to the UK.
In another worrying sign, doctors in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Washington and West Virginia are also reporting increases in severe Strep A infections this year.
However, the CDC does not track infection in the same way as viral diseases such as Covid, the flu and RSV, making national infection and death counts unclear.
Symptoms of Strep A include rashes and sores all over the body, flushed cheeks, sore throat, muscle aches and fever. It is a relatively mild disease that does not cause many pediatric deaths each year
America’s triple epidemic has already peaked, with flu cases down 30% in a week
America’s dreaded “triple disease” appears to be short-lived as weekly flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) numbers are already declining.
Today’s weekly flu report shows that in the week ending December 10, there were just over 30,000 confirmed flu infections nationwide.
While that’s preliminary data, it’s a 30 percent drop from the previous week and the first drop in cases since the flu season began.
Meanwhile, said Dr. Ashish Jha at a White House news conference on Thursday that RSV infections had already peaked and the numbers were falling “quite quickly”.
Fears of a so-called “triple pandemic” first surfaced in the summer, when Australia and New Zealand — whose winters fall during the American summer — suffered from devastating flu seasons.
Experts have pointed to lockdowns, mask requirements and other pandemic orders over the past two years as a reason this year’s flu season has been more brutal than previous ones.
dr Kathryn Moffet, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at West Virginia University Medicine in Morgantown, told her hospital is seeing more cases than usual.
Her hospital, the largest in the state, saw more children than usual with step symptoms in early December than it does in the usual year.
She blamed the abnormal flu patterns in previous years – where viruses like the flu and RSV barely circulated.
“We disrupted our virus transmission. We didn’t have the normal [circulation] where you would expect RSV and pneumonia [in young children]’ she told .
“A lot of what we’ve been doing with social distancing and masks [caused this].’
At Texas Children’s Hospital, the state’s largest children’s hospital in Houston, doctors are reporting a four-fold increase in strep infections this year compared to pre-Covid levels.
Doctors at Phoenix Children’s Hospital told NBC last week a spike in cases.
At Children’s Hospital Colorado, officials reported that more children ages 10 months to six years were being hospitalized for Strep A complications than usual.
The situation is exacerbated by a shortage of amoxicillin currently plaguing the country.
The antibiotic is commonly used by young children who are sick with illnesses like the flu and RSV to prevent bacterial infections from developing soon after.
Supply chain problems and a surge in demand caused by an unusually brutal flu season have left the drug in short supply in the US.
There is hope that America’s brutal flu season, described by some experts as the worst since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, may soon be coming to an end.
The CDC reported 31,287 confirmed flu infections in the week ended December 10 — a 30 percent decrease from the previous week.
Cases of RSV also continued their sharp decline, with the 4,391 cases logged representing a 63 percent drop from the previous week – and the lowest total since late September.
Covid begins to rise again as annual nuisances fall The US recorded 65,550 daily infections last week, up 26 percent over the past two weeks.
Deaths have also risen 63 percent to 408 a day over the past two weeks.