Flu cases are soaring headed into the holidays and packing emergency rooms as Michigan continues to experience a “tripledemic” with the flu, RSV, and COVID-19. Dr. Matthew Sims is director of Infectious Disease Research at Corewell Health East, formerly known as Beaumont. He says RSV cases have peaked and are on the decline, but the flu is spreading at a dangerous rate.
“RSV is finally starting to trend down, but flu is coming up,” says Sims. “To give you a little idea, we went from the last week of November we had about 344 cases that were treated either inpatient or in the emergency room at Corewell Health East, and in the second week of December, it jumped up to 760.”
Sims says most flu patents are treated at the ER and sent home but the influx of cases is boosting wait times.
