William Schaffner, MD, medical director at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), and Patsy Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP, president-elect of NFID, explain how the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
William Schaffner, MD, medical director at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), and Patsy Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP, president-elect of NFID, explain how the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Transcript
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the normal seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus?
Stinchfield: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted a lot of things, including other viruses, some of which have had to take a backseat to this virus. RSV season, as we typically see it in the fall and winter, was definitely disrupted. At the beginning of the pandemic, we saw some coinfections in children—both RSV and SARS-CoV-2, or influenza [and] SARS-CoV-2, a little bit of influenza and RSV. The second winter, though, we really didn't see much RSV and then, very strangely, RSV reemerged in the summer unexpectedly and with a vengeance. The pediatric population has quieted down, and now when it's supposed to be high right now, it's really not as much of a factor.
Schaffner: And that's been true largely across the country, because it's happened exactly as Patsy's described in Minnesota [and] that's exactly what's happened here in Tennessee. RSV has come early, disappeared early, or almost disappeared early. We're looking forward to reviewing our data to see how many coinfections we will find of both RSV and COVID at the same time. How frequent is it? Can we distinguish these patients from others? Do they produce more severe disease when they are present at the same time? Those are questions that are still unanswered.
Dr Michael Farwell on FDG PET/CT Imaging to Predict Immunotherapy Response in Advanced Melanoma
April 15th 2024Michael Farwell, MD, associate professor of radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, provides insights into a study on the benefits of using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging to detect metabolic tumor changes in skin cancer.
Read More
Overcoming Employment Barriers for Lasting Social Impact: Freedom House 2.0 and Pathways to Work
April 16th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our second episode, in which we learn all about Freedom House 2.0 and the Pathways to Work program.
Listen
Increasing Lp(a) Awareness for Better Cardiovascular Health: Dr Mary McGowan
March 24th 2024For Lp(a) Awareness Day, Mary McGowan, MD, FNLA, chief medical officer of the Family Heart Foundation, highlights how most people with elevated Lp(a) are completely unaware that they have this increased risk and calls for increased testing.
Read More
Making Giant Strides in Maternity Health Through Baby Steps
April 9th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are kicking off a special month-long podcast series with our strategic alliance partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our first episode, which is all about the Baby Steps Maternity Program and its mission to support women throughout every step of their pregnancy journey.
Listen
Getting to Know Dr Fabiola Molina, Hospitalist
February 26th 2024Fabiola Molina, MD, MHS, is a practicing hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital. An immigrant from Mexico, her experiences straddling 2 worlds, while attempting to navigate with her family the complicated safety-net system for health care in Texas, were key influences to her ardent focus on health equity.
Read More