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Virginia in between waves of respiratory illnesses

Virginia Department of Health

The Virginia Department of Health reports that we're currently in a lull between waves of respiratory illnesses. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

Elena Diskin is the respiratory disease and vaccine preventable disease program manager for the Virginia Department of Health.
Virginia Department of Health
Elena Diskin is the respiratory disease and vaccine preventable disease program manager for the Virginia Department of Health.

Cases of respiratory viruses in the commonwealth are currently low but trending upwards, according to VDH data on emergency department visits. Elena Diskin, who oversees disease surveillance for the department, said infections typically spike at the very end of the year.

ELENA DISKIN: We've been seeing COVID-19 activity decreasing since about early September, after the summer wave, and flu and RSV are still pretty low right now. We're seeing the same nationally as well. However we do expect to see flu, COVID and RSV activity pick up in the next few weeks, as we move deeper into fall and winter. … And the best way to prevent against serious illness is by staying up to date on your vaccines.

If you did catch COVID as part of that August-September wave –

DISKIN: You can consider delaying or waiting to get your updated COVID vaccine by about three months since you last had your COVID infection, and that's really mainly to make sure that when you get your updated COVID vaccine, you're kind of maximizing the protection that it can give you.

Diskin said patients should talk to their healthcare providers if they're unsure about when to get vaccines and boosters. COVID and flu shots are available at most local pharmacies, as are RSV vaccines for adults over 75 years of age, or over 60 with certain risk factors.

Graphics show the percentage of emergency department visits that were made for respiratory illness as opposed to other health needs.
Virginia Department of Health
Graphics show the percentage of emergency department visits made for respiratory illnesses. The short, dark blue line indicates an upswing in such visits that's on track to spike around the end of the year, as they have for the past two years (depicted in light blue and gray lines). A map depicts central and south-central Virginia as experiencing more infection activity than the rest of the state.

Randi B. Hagi first joined the WMRA team in 2019 as a freelance reporter. Her work has been featured on NPR and other NPR member stations; in The Harrisonburg Citizen, where she previously served as the assistant editor;The Mennonite; Mennonite World Review; and Eastern Mennonite University's Crossroads magazine.