NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Doctors are seeing more flu cases earlier in the season than usual.
"We always worry in the past about influenza and something else, but we didn't have kind of this covid in the background," said Dr. Todd Rice, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
This comes as cases of RSV are on the rise.
"The 'tripledemic' is a new word for us," said Dr. Rice.
The triple threat has health systems bracing for possible surges.
"The worry is that we might see kind of an uptick in all of those at the same time, which would make more people prone to get multiple infections at the same time, or one right after the other — not even be fully recovered from one and then get hit with another one," said Dr. Rice.
With holidays around the corner, it means large gatherings will resume.
"We've unmasked. We've gone back into the community. We sort of removed some of the precautions we were doing, and that just provided an opportunity for influenza and RSV to flare also," said Dr. Rice.
He said hospitals like Vanderbilt are prepared, but he wants Tennesseans to be prepared, too.
Rice said get up to date on your COVID and flu shots, and practice good hygiene like washing your hands often. Those with compromised immune systems may also want to consider masking.
