Get ready for the TRIPLEDEMIC this winter: Children's hospitals are overwhelmed by RSV, flu cases triple in a month and there are early signs of a Covid comeback

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America is in the throes of a tripledemic as RSV, flu and Covid all strike hospitals at the same time.

Doctors in some children's hospitals are already saying this is the worst year for RSV infections they have ever seen — with children sicker than ever before.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are also warning over children's hospitals, saying units are 'nearly as full as they were this time last year' and that they could soon be 'strained'.

Experts say an earlier-than-normal winter virus season, coupled with children's underdeveloped immune systems from lockdowns could be behind the surge. 

Flu infections are also rising, having tripled in a month — with nearly half of states now reporting high or very high levels of flu-like illness. Two weeks ago, only 14 states — or just over a quarter — were at this level. 

CDC estimates also suggest 5.3million people are currently sick with the flu, which is 40 percent higher than at this time in 2019 — the year before the pandemic.

And there are signs Covid is on the rise, with wastewater surveillance showing a ten percent rise in the amount of Covid detected in the latest week data is available. There are also concerns over a new variant — JN.1 — which early tests suggest may be more infectious.

The above map shows flu-like illness levels by state for the week ending December 16, the latest available. It shows that nearly half of states have high or very high infection levels

The above data shows flu cases by week since the start of this year. They are continuing to rise and have tripled within a month, according to the data

The above shows wastewater surveillance for Covid. This suggests that cases of the virus have risen by 10 percent in a week, for the latest week that data is available

RSV is also ramping up nationwide. Louisiana , South Carolina and New Mexico have very high levels of respiratory illness, according to the CDC, as do Mississippi and Alabama

Raising the alarm over children's hospitals, Whitney Marvin — a pediatric intensive care specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina's hospital — said this RSV season is the worst she can remember.

She told the Washington Post that children were hospitalized for longer than normal and that the season started earlier than it did last year. 

'We're still making sure patients are getting the care they need,' she said. 'It just may not always be the closest hospital to them.

'All of us in the ICU who see the sickest kids are all hopeful we can see a different RSV season next year with wider distribution of vaccine.'

A spokesperson for the CDC said: 'In some parts of the country, hospital beds for children are already nearly as full as they were this time last year.

'If these trends continue, the situation at the end of this month could again strain emergency departments and hospitals.'

Children's hospitals suffered from pressure on their units last year amid a wave of hospitalizations. 

Experts now fear the same trend is repeating itself this year as diseases continue to spread again in the wake of the pandemic.

In the week to November 25, data analyzed by DailyMail.com showed 79 out of 711 children's units — or 11 percent — were at or over capacity. 

Latest data shows RSV cases appear to have peaked, with the positivity rate — proportion of tests that pick up the virus — for PCR tests for the virus dropping to 11 percent in the week to December 16, the latest available, compared to 12 percent in the previous week.

But experts say hospitalizations will likely remain high for longer because of the time taken for someone who has caught the virus to become ill enough to seek care in hospital.

The above maps show flu-like illness levels by state in the week to December 2 (left) and November 25. Flu cases are rising in the US

There have been more than 23,000 new hospital admissions in the week ending December 9 - the fifth consecutive week numbers have risen and the highest levels seen since February

CDC director Dr Mandy Cohen says RSV has likely already peaked this year, although there is no sign of this yet for flu or Covid.

She said last week: 'We're seeing RSV peak a bit sooner, but we do not believe we're near yet at the peak of flu or Covid.'

A total of 24 states reported high or very high flu-like illness in the week to December 16, the latest available — up from 19 in the previous seven-day spell.

Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Massachusetts were the latest states to report high or very high levels within the past week.

Louisiana and South Carolina are currently the hardest hit, with both reporting 'very high' levels of flu-like illness, alongside most southern states.

The CDC says 5.3million people have been sickened with the flu so far this year, while 54,000 people have been hospitalized and 3,200 have died from the disease.

This is 40 percent higher than the same time in 2019 — the year before the pandemic — for infections, when 3.7million had been recorded.

But it is below the sasme time last year, when there were 15million illnesses at this time.

At this time in 2019, there were also 32,000 hospitalizations and 1,800 deaths.

Dr Bill Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, said he hoped the US could get back to 'normal' disease trends very soon.

He previously told DailyMail.com: 'I thought we were pretty much back to normal this year but apparently that is not the case.

'I would hope we can get back to an old normal rather more quickly in the context of this season.'

He pointed out that now that people were monitoring the spread of viruses more they may be spotting outbreaks more often than previously. 

Jasmyne Kite, 9, from Wilson, North Carolina, passed away on December 18 from the flu

Latest CDC data showed flu cases were rising, with the proportion of swabs picking up the virus rising to nearly 13 percent in the week to December 16, the latest for which data is available. 

For comparison, in the previous seven-day spell 9.9 percent of swabs detected the virus.

There have also been at least 14 pediatric deaths from the flu reported this year — or those in children.

Among the victims was nine-year-old Jasmyne Kite, from Wilson, North Carolina, passed away on December 18 after catching the common virus.

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She is one of 14 flu-related deaths in the state so far in 2023. 

After feeling ill for five days, Jasmyne was taken to the hospital last Wednesday after she began slipping in and out of consciousness.

The flu virus had infected her heart, doctors said, and Jasmyne suffered a cardiac arrest.

The flu had brought on viral myocarditis - inflammation of the heart muscle.

Matthew Ledoux, ECU health’s pediatrician-in-chief in Greenville, where Jasmyne was treated, said flu can be deadly for children.

'Their systems are pretty young, and they haven’t been exposed to most of those things,' he told Cleveland19.

CDC data shows that daily hospitalizations due to Covid have risen by three percent in the first week of December. 

There were more than 23,000 new Covid hospital admissions in the week ending December 9 - the fifth consecutive week numbers have risen and the highest levels seen since February.

However, it is still 33 percent lower than the 34,932 hospitalizations this time last year.

Nationally, weekly Covid death rates are still 36 times lower than the peak of 2021 and 24 times lower than the peak of 2020, but they are expected to continue growing into winter. 

The new variant JN.1 was first detected in the US in September and now accounts for an estimated 20 percent of cases.

The CDC expects it to reach 50 percent in the next two weeks, said Dr Manisha Patel, the agency's chief medical officer of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Meanwhile, more than half of states, particularly those in the South, have reported high or very high flu activity as of the week ending December 16.

The threshold for high is if at least two of the following are in the top percentiles nationally: the rate of flu-related hospitalizations, the percentage of deaths resulting from flu or the percentage of patient visits to outpatient clinics with flu symptoms.

Meanwhile, seniors in the US could be facing a 'great risk of serious illness' due to their low vaccination rates.

Health officials stressed an urgent need' to protect the vulnerable population from an outbreak of respiratory viruses.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report today found that as of December 10, just one-third of residents were up to date with their Covid vaccine, and just 10 percent had received a vaccine for RSV.

A higher share — 72 percent — have received their flu vaccine. 

Older residents in nursing homes are at heightened risk of severe illness and death from any one of the three viruses due to their weakened immune systems. 

During the 2021-2022 flu season, the death rate for people 65 years and older was around 7.4 per 100,000 population, compared to 0.1 per 100,000 people among those aged 18 to 49 years. 

Health experts have warned America is battling one of the worst winter cold seasons they've seen as cases of Covid, flu, and RSV continue to climb and put pressure on hospitals.