The threat of respiratory illnesses is underway, CDC director says, and hospitalizations are on the rise

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Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated a congressional subcommittee Thursday about cases of respiratory illness in the US due to three viruses: flu, the coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

“RSV season is in full swing,” Cohen told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

“Flu season is just beginning across most of the country, though accelerating fast, and while we’re seeing relatively low levels of Covid, Covid is still the primary cause of new respiratory hospitalizations and deaths, with about 15,000 hospitalizations and about 1,000 deaths every single week,” she said.

“We are seeing a lot of RSV, particularly in the southern part of the country, so we’re near peak is what I would say for RSV,” Cohen said.

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I had never heard of RSV until my dad (80) was recently diagnosed. It's a nasty illness and highly contagious. He can barely breath, but is getting better. He carries oxygen with him now to keep his oxygen levels up.

I caught it in my 30s and it was two weeks of misery. I had never been that sick with a respiratory virus in my life. It's easy to see it being dangerous for the very young and old.

Did it feel like a day of intense sinus pain and then just an explosion of mucus from every orifice for a week and then a honking cough? Because i think i had that and thought the exact same thing.

Actually yes. The most distinct thing that I remember was the intense sinus pain. Like a burning pain.

Thing is, until recently there was nothing we could do for RSV aside from the genetic supportive care that's given to all respiratory illnesses. That changed this last summer, when vaccines became available. It's similar for other respiratory viruses like metapneumovirus and parainfluenza, which are also a thing.

The millions of people that get infected with one or more of the above but not diagnosed:

"Man, I had a really bad cold. Felt awful. Had to go to work though, was out of sick days and the boss couldn't/wouldn't find other coverage."