IDAHO, USA — Three respiratory viruses are making up a 'triple-demic' this year - RSV, Covid, and the flu. Idaho is currently seeing a spike in one of those right now - the flu.
Primary Health is Idaho's largest independent medical group. Last week, their clinics saw over 650 influenza cases, with a 44% positivity rate.
The positivity rate is much higher than the national average, which is about 25%.
"I'm hoping that it's a plateau. We've had this 44% rate for the past two weeks, so it's been steady for two weeks," Dr. Ann Weiss, clinical director for Primary Health Medical Group said.
This time last year, Primary Health had a flu positivity rate of 11%, and were dealing with about a dozen flu cases per week.
It appears RSV cases may have hit their peak this season. But the flu and sustained levels of Covid have made this season unique for health providers.
"Last week, we saw 660 flu cases in our clinics, and whereas we saw 180 COVID cases," Weiss said. "Those numbers used to be flipped. The numbers used to be very, very high for COVID. But they're still there, but a lot less than flu right now."
Weiss says their clinics have also been seeing more hospitalizations due to influenza, especially with older adults.
According to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the state has had nine flu deaths this season. Those who died were all over 50 years old. Five of the deaths happened last week.
Despite the jump in flu cases, Primary Health says that patients shouldn't be worried about long waits. Over the past several weeks, Primary Health says their average urgent care visit from start-to-finish, including waiting, is an hour.
To stay protected from the flu, Weiss says that it's never too late to get a flu shot.
"You get good protection from the flu shot by the two week mark," Weiss said. "So you can still boost your coverage for that first week of New Year's, where you might be gathering with family. And it's never too late to get the bivalent - the new updated COVID shot, we have plenty of those in stock as well. Those have really good protection from getting COVID, and more importantly from getting severely ill."
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