Both RSV and flu are almost non-existent in Utah and the rest of the country this year, said Dr. Andrew Pavia, director of epidemiology at Children’s Primary Hospital, on Monday, as the state reported 338 new cases of COVID-19 and just an additional death from the coronavirus.
Typically, at this time of year, hundreds of babies and young children would be hospitalized in Utah with RSV, as the respiratory syncytial virus is commonly known. But so far this winter, there hasn’t been a single hospitalization for the virus at the Children’s Primary Hospital, and influenza infections are extremely rare.
Public health measures taken to slow the spread of COVID-19, including travel restrictions that accelerate the circulation of seasonal flu, may help explain the slowdown in flu cases, but the explanation for RSV is hardly as clear, Pavia said.
“Masking, physical distance and better hand washing, which we’ve known for years, can control the flu. Now we are doing this natural experiment in which we are controlling it in a really dramatic way, ”said Pavia, adding that“ RSV is a little more disconcerting ”because it does not go away in the summer, like the flu.
Masking is helping, however, in addition to keeping children at home during the pandemic, he said.
“But there may be some other things that we don’t fully understand, because all of these things can take RSV to low numbers, but it’s practically zero across the country,” said Pavia, adding a theory that has yet to be proven is that the COVID virus -19 ruled out other viruses, such as RSV.
The low case count for RSV and flu does not mean that respiratory infections have disappeared.
Pavia said that both can hit Utahns hard, perhaps even during the warmer months.
“It is very likely that when both the flu and RSV are absent for a while, you will have more people who are totally susceptible to them. Then, when it arrives, it spreads more dramatically and we see the most serious illness, ”he said, adding that a severe flu season usually follows one that is mild.
RSV depends on more babies “who are completely susceptible” to the virus, said Pavia, so next year, there will likely be twice as many babies who have never been exposed. He said Australia, where it is now summer and COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed, is seeing a huge increase in RSV.
“Our feeling is that he will be roaring again,” said the doctor, noting that RSV affects older adults as well as younger children.
COVID-19 cases are on the decline, but with the 338 new cases reported on Monday, they have reached 367,073 since the pandemic began last March. Vaccines appear to be helping, with 611,910 doses administered in the state, including 4,353 since Sunday.
The seven-day continuous average for positive tests is 760 per day. Another 2,892 Utahns were tested and 5,931 additional tests performed. The seven-day continuous average for the percentage of positivity when multiple tests of an individual in 90 days are excluded is 13.3%, or 6% when all tests are included, which is now the state’s preferred method.
There are 237 people hospitalized with the coronavirus in Utah. As the national death toll approaches 500,000, Utah lost 1,853 people to COVID-19 with the latest reported death on Monday, a Wasatch County woman between 45 and 64 who was a long-term care center resident. duration.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Dr. Andrew Pavia as Dr. Anthony Pavia.