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California officials are urging preventive measures to thwart the spread of respiratory illnesses and alleviate a health system already contending with the triple threat of COVID-19, influenza and RSV.
For weeks, public health leaders across the most-populous state have sounded the alarm about the challenges posed by simultaneous circulation of the three viruses. With Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season around the corner, ways in which residents address these health challenges can help chart the state’s course through the next few months, officials say.
“We are dealing with three threats at once,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said this week. “In every category that we track — whether it’s test positivity, case rate numbers, wastewater surveillance, clinical surveillance, hospitalizations — we’re seeing increases for RSV, flu and COVID.”
Of particular concern is RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, which can cause significant illness and death in young children and older people. It has struck with a vengeance, sickening so many children that some hospitals have reported running short of pediatric beds.
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