COVID, RSV and the flu - a potentially deadly cocktail and all circulating now in the Houston area.
Dr. Peter Hotez with Dr. Maria Bottazzi, co-developers of the Corbevax vaccine pictured holding the vaccine.As a very weary public heads into the fourth year of living with COVID-19, the emergence of two new variants leading to a recent spike in cases in the Houston area is not the kind of news anyone wanted.
And although it is rare, all three of these viruses can exist together. Houston Methodist’s data reports that co-detection and co-infection are seen more in cases of COVID-19 and flu, said Dr. Wesley Long, clinical pathologist and medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist.—“In different parts of the world, you see B.Q. 1 and B.Q. 1.1. and other places more of X.B.
Houstonians were also encouraged to visit the city’s COVID-19 emergency website and the COVID-19 data hubs—where they could see regular updates of the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Later, information circulated on wastewater reports which detected the presence of COVID in the discharge.
Production of a bivalent booster equivalent of this vaccination is currently in works, said Hotez. If they do produce this booster, it could serve as a potential replacement for the one that is used now. “We think it could be very useful, it could be long-lasting in the U.S., but we do not have a U.S. pharma partner or operation warp speed funds to operate yet,” said Hotez.
When they do come to market, Long said, pharmaceutical companies may have issues in mass producing the new treatment. As a result, they would be used exclusively in treatment of higher risk cases.RSV patients also face limited effective treatment options, as cases overcrowd Houston-area pediatric wards.
RSV is seen primarily in younger children and infants, with severe cases usually targeting patients who are under two years old. Many of these younger children are hospitalized and have high chances of ending up in the Intensive Care Unit, Chang said. Although most cases of RSV are seen in younger patients, adults and older adolescents can also contract the disease. Those with asthma, who are immunocompromised or have preexisting respiratory conditions are at a higher risk of infection. Most older patients who do have RSV often don’t know that they have it as they may experience only a mild, but persistent cough and cold-like symptoms, said Chang.
“Even if you test positive for two or more viruses, it can be a question of whether it is true co-infection or a case where you recovered from one virus and then got the other one, so that can muddle the picture a bit,” said Long. According to Propst, all three illnesses can cause respiratory distress and hypoxia, as well as result in secondary conditions such as pneumonia. “For these viruses, the lower respiratory illness is most concerning, not the nasal congestion, sore throat or postnasal drip cough,” said Propst.
Because there are still people needing to get the most recent booster, along with their flu vaccinations, Harris County is providing vaccines to the public daily. These vaccines are free, with no insurance requirement needed and include all the COVID-19 vaccines along with the flu vaccine, said Allison Reese, Director of Harris County Health Department’s COVID-19 Division.
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