Doctors urge caution as holidays bring increase in ‘tripledemic’ cases

MIAMI – Flu cases are spiking in Florida and across the country as the holiday travel season gets underway.

Dr. Hany Atallah, Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, said the CDC’s ‘tripledemic’ scenario is starting to play out at his hospital, with severe RSV and flu activity, moderate COVID numbers and overlapping peaks.

“The more concerning thing is the severity of some of the illness,” said Atallah. “And we also are seeing some patients come in with more than one viral infection, so they may have RSV and flu, for example. We’re constantly trying to follow the science and encourage people to get vaccines.”

That is something that frustrates the heck out of Dr. David Farcy, who heads the emergency department at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

“When I see people dying of a preventable disease, that a vaccination would have prevented, yes, absolutely,” he said. “We’re just at the beginning of the season. We’ve been pretty flat.”

But, that line is starting to curve up, as more patients report respiratory illnesses.

And as folks gather for the upcoming holidays, Farcy is only anticipating more patients, which doesn’t have to be the case.

“We have vaccination, guys, completely safe, that protects us,” he said. “I think at this moment, it’s time that people trust the science and go get vaccinated.”