Cases of three respiratory illnesses are starting to creep up in Kansas City and hospitals are wary of another “tripledemic” as the weather gets colder and people travel for the holidays.
Last year, following an unusually early surge in Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, doctors were left to grapple with the rising case numbers and spikes of COVID-19 and influenza at the same time. The illnesses left hospital emergency rooms bogged down, with few beds available to patients, and led to an increased workload for staff.
Todd Shaffer, family physician and professor of medicine at University Health Truman Medical Center, said pandemic protocols like masking and social distancing may played a role. They may have delayed RSV and flu season, so when people returned to a more normal schedule last year, it caused a sharp and earlier-than-expected increase.
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