Ratcheting up the fear porn ....
Competition between respiratory viruses may hold off a ‘tripledemic’ this winter
Researchers say there is a growing body of evidence these viruses interfere with each other’s spread
https://www.science.org/content/article/competition-between-respiratory-viruses-may-hold-tripledemic-winter
Triple threat. Tripledemic. A viral perfect storm. These frightening phrases have dominated recent headlines as some health officials, clinicians, and scientists forecast that SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) could surge at the same time in Northern Hemisphere locales that have relaxed masking, social distancing, and other COVID-19 precautions.
But a growing body of epidemiological and laboratory evidence offers some reassurance: SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses often “interfere” with each other. Although waves of each virus may stress emergency rooms and intensive care units, the small clique of researchers who study these viral collisions say there is little chance the trio will peak together and collectively crash hospital systems the way COVID-19 did at the pandemic’s start.
“Flu and other respiratory viruses and SARS-CoV-2 just don’t get along very well together,” says virologist Richard Webby, an influenza researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “It’s unlikely that they will circulate widely at the same time.”
When I become king, people like the author who coin or use cutesy terms like “tripledemic,” in Buffalo this week “snowvember,” and “snownado,” and the dreaded “chocoholic,” will be sentenced to being locked in an Ebola ward for 15 days