By Nicole Leonard, WHYY
Summer is wrapping up and the fall and winter respiratory virus season is just around the corner.
Health care providers are bracing for an uptick in influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and more COVID-19 patients over the next couple of months
Experts are recommending people to get annual vaccines and protect themselves from severe illness and infection. And the time to get those shots is now.
“It is so important to get these immunizations before you are exposed to the viruses,” said pediatrician Dr. Jonathan Miller, chief of primary care pediatrics at Nemours Children’s Health Delaware Valley. “It’s not the best idea to wait until after New Year’s — that’s too late. So many kids end up getting sick before the body gets immunity, so try to come in early.”
Most common fall and winter viral diseases
Many different types of viral infections pick up in the colder months as people spend more time socializing indoors, in close contact with one another.
Influenza is one of the biggest drivers of seasonal illness. It can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets in the air after someone coughs, sneezes or talks. People can also get it from touching surfaces with the virus on it and then touching their own nose, mouth or eyes.
Many people experience mild or moderate symptoms and eventually recover on their own with over-the-counter medications. But the flu still caused more than 400,000 hospitalizations and 25,000 deaths nationally this past year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to circulate year-round. Many states and communities are coming off a summer surge and the virus continues to mutate into new variants.
“A lot of people are getting COVID right now because their immunity either from having had COVID in the past or from having had COVID vaccine in the past is waning,” Miller said, “And the new strain of COVID is able to infect people.”
Experts said they expect additional spikes in cases over the winter holidays as larger groups of people travel and get together.
For infants and toddlers, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, poses a big threat. Senior adults and people with compromised immune systems are also at risk. The virus is a leading cause of hospitalizations in the colder months, Miller said.
“So when our [children’s] hospital fills up in the winter, it’s largely due to RSV causing labored breathing and need for oxygen and other respiratory support,” Miller said.
Vaccines available this season
It’s likely that many people are due for annual COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, and experts recommend that people get them at the same time. It’s one less trip to the clinic or doctor’s office, and it can also be easier to make it into an annual routine.
“People have work and other responsibilities and, unfortunately, health interventions sometimes take a back seat to the necessity of getting a kid off to a game or getting a project done at work,” said Dr. Herb Conaway, medical director of the Burlington County Health Department in New Jersey. “So, strike while the iron is hot, particularly in this case when it’s safe to do so.”
New updated COVID-19 vaccines are on their way to communities. They are formulated to protect against the latest circulating coronavirus variants. Similarly, this year’s flu vaccines are also designed to match a predicted set of strains that will appear this season.
This year’s flu shots are trivalent, meaning they protect against two strains of influenza type A and one strain of influenza type B. For the last 10 years, flu shots have been quadrivalent and have included protection against a second influenza type B strain called Yamagata.
But since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, when people isolated and practiced social distancing for a length of time, the influenza type B Yamagata viruses have not been detected at all, said Dr. Richard Lorraine, medical director of the Montgomery County Office of Public Health in Pennsylvania.
“And [the CDC] said, appropriately, there’s no good reason to put this strain into the vaccine,” he said. “Because with each additional strain, it becomes more difficult to manufacture the vaccine. Also, arguably, why give someone an extra strain in the vaccine that they probably don’t need?”
COVID-19 and flu vaccines are recommended for everyone 6 months and older. People who have recently had COVID-19 may want to consider delaying their vaccine by 3 months, according to CDC guidelines.
And while RSV historically poses a serious danger to infants, seniors and people with compromised immune systems every year, there have been very few prevention tools available to health care providers — until recently.
In 2023, a single dose monoclonal antibody treatment called Beyfortus became available for newborns and some older infants.
After last year’s initial rollout that came with some delays, confusion and a limited supply of doses, Miller said health offices and pediatricians expect to have enough supply this season to give shots to babies who are born during the typical RSV season or who are younger than 8 months and are entering their first RSV season.
The RSV antibody shot is also recommended for children 8 to 19 months old if they are at an increased risk for the virus due to other health conditions. The monoclonal treatment provides infants with temporary protection and fighting immunity against the virus. It does not teach the body to make its own antibodies like typical vaccines.
“Right now, we have the ability to give them the antibody, get them through the RSV season when they’re at highest risk, and then they tend to grow up, right?” Miller said. “They survive and they grow up and then their risk for RSV goes down and we don’t need to use this anymore.”
New RSV vaccines for adults also came to market last year. They are recommended for everyone 75 years and older. They should also be offered to other adults 60 and older who have an increased risk of illness due to other health conditions and chronic diseases.
An RSV vaccine is also recommended during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend the shot for pregnant women and people in their second trimester, between 32 to 36 weeks gestation, during the months of September through January.
It’s important for people to remember that these vaccines won’t completely prevent all illnesses, Lorriane said.
“Whatever prevention we get, that’s a bonus. But the main reason is to decrease the severity so we have fewer hospitalizations, we have fewer ICU admissions, we have fewer deaths,” he said. “And these vaccines work pretty well to do that.”
In addition to vaccination, people can practice good hygiene and hand washing to try and limit the spread of disease in the first place. Make it part of the routine, Conaway said.
“You brush your teeth in the morning, you get yourself cleaned up after a busy day and do these sorts of common-sense precautions with respect to these circulating viruses,” he said.
Adult and pediatric seasonal vaccines are available at local county health departments, city health centers, pharmacies and health provider offices.
