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With the current Quad-Demic there are precautions that you can take. For example after breathing … [+]
This is not how you want to go viral. The US is currently struggling with peaks of not one, not two, not three but four different viruses. This has led people to have called the current situation a ‘quad demic’, which could be a ‘four’-idable situation for those looking for timely health care in this country. So you may want to be warned four times and do what you can protect yourself.
What is the Quad Demie
The centers for disease control and prevention Website with respiratory virus activity levels Show that COVID-19, Influenza A and the respiratory syncytial virus have been on the rise since November.
For the week that ended on January 18, a quarter of the reported flu tests, 8.8% of the reported RSV tests and 6.2% of the reported COVID-19 tests were positive. The scoop about the norovirus: According to the CDCFor the week that ended on January 4, almost 28% of the tests for this gastrointestinal virus came back positively, allegedly a highest point in five years.
It is not surprising that the activity of all four viruses during the winter months has increased – while this usually happens every year. After all, the cold and dry air can facilitate the transfer of respiratory viruses and ensure that people are locked up inside, close together, making it easier to pass on all kinds of things. Moreover, it is not for nothing that the norovirus is affectionately called the ‘winter breaking virus’.
This winter the levels of the three airway viruses may have started to rise a little later than normal. That could have compressed all peaks until January. Although it remains a bit difficult to say what exactly happens to every virus, since the US government has never really introduced a comprehensive virus monitoring system that is considerably better than what existed in 2020.
As you remember, the US sat down with their proverbial pants in 2020 when the COVID-19 Pandemie broke out and they had to rely on a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University to start a website to get COVID-19 keep.
What is even more striking are the combined activity levels of the four viruses. Remember that none of these four viruses are netsburger viruses. All four can cause symptoms that are so bad that you have to be sent to first aid.
In the week that ended on January 18, just over 5% of all visits to the Emergency Department was due to the flu, 0.9% on COVID-19 and 0.6% on RSV. Bad cases of COVID-19, flu or RSV can eventually result in death. There is also the long-term problem of potentially long-term Covid after a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. And most people who have had a norovirus infection will tell you that it is not your regular gastrointestinal infection. In fact, the runs and the vomiting that this can cause can be comparable to nothing else that you have ever experienced, which can lead to serious dehydration for which medical help may be needed.
The Quad Demie further disrupts the health care system
The quad themia will probably take a toll of the already heavily limited health care system. Even if no epidemics of infectious diseases take place, it is probably not common for people to say: “I look forward to going to the first aid, where I will be seen immediately and don’t have to wait at all.”
If you think of first aid departments throughout the country, the words ‘ultimate efficiency’ and ‘well manned’ do not often appear in you. Add to that a number of viral epidemics and it is likely that waiting times for people looking for care in clinics, hospitals and first aid departments have become even longer.
That is why it is now especially important to plan ahead if you need any form of healthcare. Consider which institution is most suitable for your condition. If you have a non-urgent issue, you can contact your regular doctor for advice during office hours. That can save you a lot of unnecessary waiting time in a more urgent environment, such as the Emergency Department or First Aid. If you have a health problem that requires urgent attention, make it clear as soon as you arrive there to the healthcare professionals in the clinic, the hospital or first aid. You don’t want to get lost in the viral shuffle.
How you can protect yourself against the quad themy
It is also a good idea to take the right precautions to prevent you from becoming infected. This should apply everywhere, but especially in waiting rooms, other health care environments and everywhere where virus transfer may be the most important. Do not listen to those politicians and the like who have tried to politicize proven measures to control infectious diseases. For example, N95 breathing equipment is designed to stop small particles such as viruses. Wearing such face masks can effectively reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses, as long as the masks fit and be worn in the right way.
Another useful measure is maintaining good ventilation with clean air. Do you remember that in 2020 there was an attempt to install more air cleaners on interior locations to reduce the transfer of SARS-COV-2? Well, our society often has the memory of a goldfish when it comes to such things.
Then there is the entire hand wash. If someone says that he or she has not washed his or her hands for ten years, you may want to stay far away from that person. By washing your hands thoroughly and regularly, you can not only reduce viral infections, but also bacterial and other microbial infections, as I have written before for Forbes.
You also regularly want to disinfect surfaces that are often touched, such as that life-sized Jason Momoa image that you store in your closet. The challenge is that the Norovirus can be resistant to many standard household cleaning products and possibly needs bleach to be deactivated.
Finally, vaccination can further protect you, at least against worse results. If you are six months or older, you can get the flu and covid-19 vaccines.
The CDC recommends the RSV vaccine for pregnant women, infants, children with a higher risk, adults aged 75 and older and adults in the age category of 60 to 74 years who have a higher risk of a serious RSV disease. There is currently no Norovirus vaccine on the market. But that can change in the near future.
Oh, and something else. Do not trust that the federal government will tell you when an infectious disease is emerging. As mentioned earlier, large shortcomings have revealed large shortcomings in the existing surveillance systems for infectious diseases in the US. In addition, the current break in the communication of federal health authorities that is enforced by the new government of President Donald Trump, which took office on January 20. , 2025. It is not clear how current the CDC data about infectious diseases will be until there is more clarity about what will happen to the CDC. It is not even clear what the federal government will do at the moment to prevent, prevent and tackle outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as the current quad demies, and everything that could occur in the near future. Consider yourself four warned.