|
Ever since its arrival, COVID-19 has had an uncanny way of expanding our lexicon.
In March 2020, the word “pandemic” became a household name. Then in fall 2021, we were introduced to the term “twindemic,” which referred to the dual threat of a severe flu season combined with a winter surge of COVID-19 infections. Now, we’re learning about the “triple threat,” which describes the onslaught of three respiratory illnesses – RSV, the seasonal flu and COVID-19 – that are filling emergency rooms across the country.
These viruses present a threat to everyone, but infants and young children are currently at the greatest risk, write epidemiologists Rebecca S.B. Fischer, of Texas A&M University, and Annette Regan, from the University of San Francisco. They explain why the sheer number of respiratory infections – which are spreading much earlier than usual in the flu season – has health officials concerned that the situation could grow worse this winter. But they also point to the prevention strategies, including vaccines, that can help people keep themselves and their communities safe.
Also today:
If you value our work in providing you, your neighbors and the public with trustworthy health information, we hope you will support The Conversation. Thank you.
|
|
Amanda Mascarelli
Senior Health and Medicine Editor
|
|
Pediatric emergency rooms in some states are at or over capacity due to the surging number of respiratory infections.
GOLFX/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Rebecca S.B. Fischer, Texas A&M University; Annette Regan, University of San Francisco
Respiratory viruses are hitting young children and infants particularly hard this fall and winter season, and experts don’t yet know exactly why.
|
Science + Technology
|
-
John Eric Goff, University of Lynchburg
Adidas releases a new ball for every World Cup. At the highest level of play, a ball that behaves in unexpected ways can throw players off. A sports physicist explains the science of this year’s ball.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Elizabeth Scala, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts
Swift, like all writers, draws from her literary forebears to craft new works.
|
|
Economy + Business
|
-
Ovunc Yilmaz, University of Colorado Boulder
This strategy to get the highest prices the markets will bear can lead to problems, as fans of Taylor Swift know all too well.
|
|
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Gerald Warburg, University of Virginia
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced she will step aside from senior leadership. It could lead to generational change in the Democratic Party.
-
Rachel Paine Caufield, Drake University
Nancy Pelosi is out as House Speaker as of January 2023. Republican Kevin McCarthy will likely get the position in the new session of Congress. Here’s what goes with the job.
-
W. Joseph Campbell, American University School of Communication
Polling for the 2022 midterms was more accurate than the dramatically wrong predictions of 2016 and 2020, leading one pollster to boast, ‘The death of polling has been greatly exaggerated.’
-
Tim Lindberg, University of Minnesota
The U.S. Senate voted to advance a bill that protect same-sex marriage by a wide margin– thanks to support from 12 Republicans. Same-sex marriage isn’t the partisan issue it once was.
-
Rachel Rebouche, Temple University
Abortion referendums in such states as California and Kentucky provide a way to protect abortion rights at the state level – but voting limitations could undermine the power of the ballot box.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Maria Garcia, University of California, San Francisco
Men, older adults, people with language barriers and racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to be screened for depression.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Jennifer Weeks, The Conversation
Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says he will end land clearance in Brazil’s Amazon region. But powerful forces profit from rainforest destruction.
|
|
|
|
From our international editions
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
