Kansas City hospitals say flu and RSV cases are getting worse, even though they have vaccines

Kansas City hospitals are preparing for an influx of respiratory illnesses this winter, as influenza and RSV case numbers are starting to rise, and COVID-19 lingers.
Cases of three respiratory illnesses are starting to creep up in Kansas City and hospitals are wary of another “tripledemic” as the weather gets colder and people travel for the holidays.

Last year, following an unusually early surge in Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, doctors were left to grapple with the rising case numbers and spikes of COVID-19 and influenza at the same time. The illnesses left hospital emergency rooms bogged down, with few beds available to patients, and led to an increased workload for staff.

Todd Shaffer, family physician and professor of medicine at University Health Truman Medical Center, said pandemic protocols like masking and social distancing may played a role. They may have delayed RSV and flu season, so when people returned to a more normal schedule last year, it caused a sharp and earlier-than-expected increase.

This year, RSV and influenza case numbers are trending back toward previous baselines, and COVID-19 numbers have held relatively steady. But Shaffer said this is also the time of year when those numbers start to creep up.