“What we think is going on is that patients then have not really had the opportunity to create immunity to these viruses in the way that we have been in the past,” Dr. Sonali Bose, a pulmonologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York tells Inside Edition.
With COVID, flu, and RSV numbers on the rise, hospitals are filling up with images reminiscent of the early days of the COVID pandemic.
Many people are either sick or know someone who is sick this season. Even Kelly Ripa called out sick from the "Live With Kelly and Mark" show.
Dr. Sonali Bose, a pulmonologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York spoke with Inside Edition. She says people are still building their immunity after the COVID lockdowns.
“What we think is going on is that patients then have not really had the opportunity to create immunity to these viruses in the way that we have been in the past,” Bose says. “Now with our reduced ability to combat that, a lot of patients are getting sicker.”
The wave of illness here in the U.S. is particularly concerning because China is currently in the grips of a major outbreak. Masks are making a return in the country and crews in hazmat suits are disinfecting the streets.
The World Health Organization says there is no need to panic as there is no new pathogen, but rather a combination of common viruses. The flu, RSV, COVID, and walking pneumonia are among the common viruses.
“What China has experienced has probably been related to the fact they had longer lockdown periods,” Bose says. “What's happened now are that people have decreased immunity to those illnesses from being in the lockdown for that long.”
