BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) and officials from the Gem State provided a sobering discussion and update on the "surge" of influenza, RSV and COVID-19 cases during an online briefing Thursday afternoon.
Leaders across the state said the 'triple-demic,' a phrase being used to describe the combination of the three respiratory diseases, is having a major impact on hospitals both in Idaho and around the Pacific Northwest.
"Coming into this fall and winter, we were worried about the impact of three respiratory diseases circulating at the same time … Unfortunately, we have seen our concerns turn into reality," DHW Director Dave Jeppesen said. "I’m worried that Idahoans do not understand the large impact these three viral diseases are having on our hospital capacity, which effects all patient care. We have seen a surge of people that need care in hospitals, cause they’re really sick, particularly after the Thanksgiving holiday. Let me be clear, hospitals across the state are full, and under a tremendous amount of stress. Following the Christmas and New Years holidays, we expect to see another surge of hospitalized patients. A post-holiday surge is very concerning, particularly when hospitals are already operating at the edge of their capacity."
Chief Physician Executive at St. Luke's Health System in Boise, Dr. Jim Souza, joined Thursday's briefing to provide an inside perspective on what hospitals in Idaho are experiencing.
Souza said St. Luke's has seen "really high" patient volumes dating back to the Omicron surge in the spring of 2022. Souza said hospitals also faced limited letup in capacity in the summer, when the number of cases of respiratory diseases may typically slow.
"I want to be clear, this isn’t just our issue in our part of Idaho, or in Idaho, it’s a Pacific Northwest issue and more generally, an issue across the United States. Hospital census across the Pacific Northwest has been at, or near capacity over this same period of time and over this same period of time," Souza said. "Over the past few months, our health system has had transfers in from as far away as Sitka, Alaska – multiple from there, the Oregon coast and from northern California."
Deputy State Epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Turner provided two graphs during the briefing, breaking down the rise in weekly percent positivity in RSV, COVID-19 and influenza since Oct. 8 and the sharp rise in hospitalizations from COVID and the flu in Idaho during that span.
While the weekly percent positivity has hovered around 8% for COVID between Oct. 8 and Dec. 10, the numbers for RSV and influenza have skyrocketed. Positivity rates for RSV have jumped from 2.1% to 20.6%, while the rate for the flu has increased from 6.25% to 31.45%.
Between Nov. 6 and Dec. 3, Idaho's hospital admissions rose from 11 for influenza and 97 for COVID-19, to 183 for influenza and 167 for COVID-19. Flu hospital admissions increased 1,564%, while COVID-19 admissions increased 72%.
St. Luke's said they may need to cancel elective surgeries in the future if the numbers stay high.
With the holidays approaching, and an obvious concern from health officials surrounding post-holiday surges, State Epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn provided ways Idahoans can protect themselves:
"I have three things I'd like to emphasize. Those are knowing your risk for severe disease, knowing if you're at high risk, being ready to test if you get sick, so that if you are at high risk, you can get tested quickly," Hahn said. "Then, also knowing to ask whether antiviral treatment could be the best thing for you. If you do test positive, whether it's for flu, or for COVID, there are antiviral treatments for both."
Hahn said one of the best things people can do to protect themselves is to stay up-to-date on flu shots and COVID boosters. Hahn also recommended evaluation and testing, as the symptoms of influenza, COVID and RSV "can overlap a lot."
The jump in hospitalizations has also caused an increase in demand for medication. Souza said they have had to ration, but not restrict, drugs like children's Tylenol and ibuprofen.
For the first time, St. Luke's has also opened up respiratory outpatient clinics to deal with demand.
For the CDC's 48th Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Idaho had 453 positive RSV tests, down from 535 the week prior. More data on RSV and influenza trends from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare can be found here.
Since the start of the pandemic:
- 5,287 deaths
- 509,199 total statewide cases
- 2,716,867 total vaccine doses administered
- 966,684 people "fully vaccinated" (two doses of Moderna or Pfizer, or single dose of Janssen)
- 467,335 people with additional or booster dose
- Percentage of all Idahoans with at least one dose: 59.1%
- Percentage of Idahoans fully vaccinated: 52.9%
- Percentage of fully vaccinated Idahoans with booster dose: 48.3%
Since Dec. 7:
- New cases: 1,329
- New deaths reported: 7
PCR testing positivity rate (statewide) for Nov. 27 - Dec. 3: 8.9%
- Down from rate of 9.1% reported previous week
Since the spring of 2020, the city's Public Works Department has been testing samples from its two wastewater facilities to give them insight on COVID in the community.
Boise will start a program in January that will allow them to test wastewater for other viruses in addition to COVID and its variants. Including the flu, RSV, and monkeypox.
Southwest District Health announced the first death of the season from a flu-related illness in the area on Dec. 1. For more information, click here.
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