February 27, 2024- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been continuing to monitor statistics and data during respiratory season, for signs that respiratory disease season could be worse than expected. The CDC tracks numerous factors in relation to respiratory disease, including data indicating the possibility of an unusually severe influenza season, multiple respiratory disease peaks happening at the same time, or the emergence of a new coronavirus variant that causes severe illness.
As of mid-January, the CDC continued to expect that the 2024 respiratory season will likely have a similar number of total hospitalizations as last year. In 2023/2022, the number of hospitalizations remained higher than previous respiratory seasons prior to COVID-19 pandemic. With the incidence of widespread illness and healthcare system strain, this year’s hospitalizations from COVID-19, flu, and RSV may even be higher.
Learn More in the latest issue of The Journal of Healthcare.