By Kalvin Yu, MD, FIDSA, Vice President of U.S. Medical Affairs and Vikas Gupta, Pharm.D., Director of Medical Affairs

This is our second weekly snapshot of viral infections of the U.S. As we close out the first week of November, COVID-19, RSV and flu are all still circulating.  We are not experiencing a “tripledemic” just yet. Notably, flu rates have skyrocketed across the U.S. – while RSV remains strong and COVID-19 hospital discharges have dipped slightly.  

Here is what our data show through November 5:

FLU

This week, saw a 57 percent increase in positive flu hospital discharges (424 discharges total). During the same week in 2021, there were just 9 flu discharges – signaling that the U.S. may likely experience a far more severe flu season this year.

COVID-19

COVID-19 hospital discharges have dipped slightly in the U.S. – showing no notable change week over week. As we shared in our inaugural snapshot last week, respiratory viral infections typically increase around the Thanksgiving holiday. We saw this trend last year for COVID-19 and we will be paying close attention to caseloads and discharges as we head deeper into November.

RSV

Like COVID-19, RSV hospital discharges have dipped slightly in the U.S. (60 percent of discharges in the most recent week being under 4 years old). Overall, RSV remains strong, and we’ll continue to monitor this trend – particularly among adolescents.

About BD Infectious Disease Insights
Emerging infectious diseases have been increasing in frequency during the past few decades. None have tested the U.S. health care system’s capacity or resiliency like COVID-19 – forever changing the way that we think about future outbreaks and how we manage the related unintended consequences. The BD Infectious Disease Insights series investigates today’s most prominent infectious disease trends. The series leverages the depth and breadth of our data to serve as an ongoing bellwether on the state of infectious diseases in the U.S., backed by clinical insights on how to increase overall awareness and preparedness.