US health experts warn of triple threat of flu, COVID, RSV

People make their way through Times Square, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Manhattan, New York City, US, May 07, 2021. (EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS)

LOS ANGELES / WASHINGTON / NEW YORK – Respiratory viruses are spreading at high levels in the United States as temperatures begin to drop, causing the surge of pediatric cases across the country.

Your old vaccine or your previous COVID infection will not give you maximum protection. 

Joe Biden,

US President

Health experts are concerned over the triple threat of flu, COVID-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, urging the public to get flu shots and COVID-19 vaccinations, and be aware of symptoms of severe illness.

The flu, COVID-19 and RSV are all highly contagious respiratory infections caused by different viruses: flu by influenza virus, COVID-19 by SARS-CoV-2 virus, and RSV by respiratory syncytial virus.
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RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but can be dangerous for some infants and young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden received an updated COVID-19 booster shot on Tuesday afternoon.

"This virus is constantly changing," Biden said at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House. "New variants have emerged here in the US and around the world."

"Your old vaccine or your previous COVID infection will not give you maximum protection," he warned.

Separately, more than 20 million Americans have received updated COVID-19 vaccine so far, according to the White House.

Less than half of the total booster-eligible population in the United States has received a COVID-19 booster dose.

About 226.6 million people, or 68.2 percent of the total U.S. population, completed a primary series as of Oct 20, according to the latest data of the CDC.

But only 49.1 percent of the total booster-eligible population has received a booster dose, according to the CDC.

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Currently, there are more than a dozen pediatric Long COVID clinics scattered across the United States, according to a directory kept by the support group Long COVID Families, but getting into them isn't always easy, reported Time on Monday.

The pediatric Long COVID clinic at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, has a waitlist three to four months long, director Alexandra Yonts was quoted as saying.

That's "problematic," Yonts said, but it's the best she and her small team can do without additional funding.

Russia

MOSCOW – Russia registered 6,578 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 21,386,842, the official monitoring and response center said Tuesday.

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The center said the nationwide death toll increased by 84 to 389,710, while the number of recoveries grew by 12,912 to 20,740,347.