Flu, COVID, RSV: Colorado doctor says 5% of hospitalized patients have two viruses at the same time
Chances are you or someone you know has gotten sick over the past few weeks or months. It's been a hard-hitting respiratory virus season, and a Colorado doctor says a number of patients who have been hospitalized for the flu, COVID or RSV are testing positive for combinations of the virus at the same time.
Dr. Michelle Barron is the senior medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth. She said although testing for multiple viruses at the same time this isn't common, it does happen. She added that 5% of people who are hospitalized for the flu, COVID or RSV test positive for two infections at the same time, known as a co-infection. She said there's also the possibility of having one virus after the other days or even weeks apart, called a sequential infection. For example if you were sick for a few weeks at a time, it might not be the same cold that keeps coming back. It may be two different viruses altogether. It could present itself as COVID first, then a case of the flu or RSV, or the other way around.
"They're very different viruses, and so your body is not necessarily attacking just one. And so that protection, when it attacks one, doesn't mean that the others aren't potentially there to attack you as well," said Barron.
Barron said just like peak-COVID times, the older you are the higher risk you have of becoming hospitalized with what's called a "co-infection." Or, if you have asthma or other breathing issues, it can become serious.
She said it's hard to say just how sick people will feel if they do have two viruses at the same time, but she added those people will likely feel pretty sick overall.
"It will cause you to have a runny nose. Sore throat can be a component of any of these as well as headache, body aches, fever and certainly if you have both of them, it tends to be a little bit more severe, where if you feel like really wiped out it could be more than one, or it could be just one alone," said Barron.
Because the symptoms for these respiratory viruses are so similar, with slight differences, the Barron also said it's hard to know what you have without being tested. She added that's why it's important to seek treatment as early as you can if you need it.
"The typical test has a combination of flu, flu A and B, RSV and COVID, and then there's a more expansive panel that we can also do that test for everything which includes RSV, COVID and flu, but then adds on hinovirus and other coronaviruses, and a whole long list of other respiratory viruses that are out there," said Barron.
Barron also mentioned that since those early days of the pandemic, flu and RSV infections have returned to normal. She also said COVID is behaving more like the flu nowadays.
As for the flu season, Barron said trends are back to normal this year. That includes a jump in cases around the holidays and spring break.
Barron said it's not too late to get vaccinated for the flu or COVID, or for RSV if you're over 60. She also encourages frequent handwashing and sanitizing to help prevent people from getting sick not only during the respiratory virus season, but also year-round.
