Doctors warn of superstorm ‘tripledemic’ of respiratory viruses coming this winter
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – COVID-19 cases are surging, the flu has returned and hospital beds are overridden with infant RSV cases.
The combined triple threat has the nation’s doctors gearing up for a superstorm of respiratory infections that some warn will hit harder and faster this year. They’re calling it a ‘tripledemic.’
“We’re already in a dire situation when it comes to RSV,” Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, told News 8. “Flu and COVID not so much right now. But certainly if what’s happening around the world with influenza in the southern hemisphere plays out here we do expect to see an unusually high flu season and, of course, as we’ve been talking about if there is a new subvariant of omicron that surges this winter there is a possibility that these overlap and tax the healthcare system in unique and unusual ways.”
Doehring goes on to say Franciscan Hospital is working hard to stay ahead of the forecasted ‘”tripledemic” and is committed to keeping Hoosiers healthy and safe.
