Respiratory illnesses are making massive and earlier-than-normal waves this year, filling emergency rooms with patients and doctors grappling with flu season.
One reason for the major spike in respiratory illnesses could be that health precautions the pandemic inspired have relaxed, lowering the pressure on people to wear masks, wash hands, and stay home when sick.Respiratory illnesses are making big and earlier-than-normal waves this year, filling emergency rooms with patients.
“It may be because life is going back to pre-pandemic levels, which is an ample opportunity for these respiratory illnesses to circulate and spread easily within the community,” said Anita Kurian, deputy director of the communicable disease division at San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Metro Health keeps track of flu-like symptoms — such as coughing or sore throat — at hospital emergency rooms. The pandemic’s impact is staggering when comparing numbers of flu-like illnesses from early November in 2019, 2021 and 2022. One-week totals dropped from 557 to 243 and then rose to 2,227 among people ages 64 and younger, according to Metro Health. Among those 65 and over, the count went from 12 to nine to 56.