As Thanksgiving Approaches, the United States is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity. Deaths have trended upward in eight states: Maryland, North Carolina, Illinois, Maine, Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, and Tennessee. Nationwide, hospitalizations from COVID-19 rose by 8.6 percent last week. The CDC recommends the updated booster, designed to better protect against the latest variants.
RSV cases are spiking in the Southeast indicating the start of RSV season. Last week, the number of US cases reported to health officials rose by 500 percent over the previous week. Hospitals in some Southeast states have become overburdened with RSV patients. Children under 5 years old and Adults over 60 face a much greater risk of illness from RSV than other age groups. Americans have different preventative options depending on their age. Currently older adults have two RSV vaccines choices. Individuals in the 32-36 weeks of pregnancy can receive a vaccine that allows them to develop immunity and pass it on to their baby in the womb. Infants and young children are eligible to get the non-vaccine preventative antibody called Nirsevimab (sold under brand name Beyfortus).