Jackson County, Ore. —Thanksgiving may be over, but now local health officials are bracing for a potential surge in respiratory viruses. The Flu, RSV, and Covid are all surfacing in the community.
Some health officials are even calling it the Tripledemic. Jackson County continues to see a rise in all three viruses.
Public Health Officer Dr. Leona O’Keefe says before Thanksgiving, Flu cases have nearly doubled each week in Jackson County.
Indoor gatherings are often a setup for the spread of viruses. O’Keefe says the county should see the impact of the holiday gatherings by the end of the week.
“This is the first time we’ve seen all three of these viruses really reveal themselves at the same time, and that’s why we’re not sure how this will actually play out, will this be a true Tripledemic where all three are very active spreading rapidly or are some of them going to be quieter?” says O’Keefe.
O’Keefe says the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to stay up to date on your vaccines. The best prevention for RSV is washing your hands often.
There is good news, O’Keefe says she doesn’t anticipate Covid numbers to be as high as last year.
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