The Centers for Disease Control once again recommends mask wearing in public places, spurred on by an increase in the so-called “triple-demic” activity. Hospitals are seeing more and more patients admitted suffering from RSV, the flu, or COVID-19.
“Typically we see it start to pick up just after Thanksgiving, when people are traveling and congregating and kind of leading into the holidays,” said Minnesota Department of Health Senior Epidemiologist Melissa McMahon. “As for influenza, that did show up earlier than normal this year, and kind of took everybody by surprise.”
With so many people wearing masks in recent years and social distancing, the seasonal flu didn’t circulate quite the same way as it had.
McMahon said that’s changed as pandemic restrictions and guidelines have virtually fallen away—at least in the general public’s consciousness.
“Flu just may be returning to its normal pattern, and settling back in,” she said. “I think this is kind of our normal influenza patterns returning.”
McMahon says the best defense against influenza is the flu shot, which she advises people get now for optimal protection over the holidays. She also says frequent hand-washing can go a long way in keeping yourself healthy.
