If it seems like more people around you are wheezing, sneezing and coughing, that’s because acute respiratory illnesses – including yet a relatively new one known as HMPV – are on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Texas is one of 10 states in the country with a rating of “very high” in the number of people seeking care from emergency department visits for respiratory illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe infections such as the flu, RSV and COVID-19. The CDC categorizes the number of illnesses in a state as minimal, low, moderate, high and very high.
Limestone and Freestone Counties emergency department visits are ranked very high for RSV, moderate for flu and low for COVID-19, according to to the CDC’s statistical information published on its website. All three illnesses are on the rise though, it adds.