Covid and flu are both surging. What to know about risk of coinfection

This year’s respiratory virus season is already looking different than last year’s — with Covid and flu both surging. Here's what to know.

While the U.S. is only a few weeks into winter, this year’s respiratory virus season is already looking different than last year’s. Covid and flu are both surging and there’s no peak in sight.

While the U.S. is only a few weeks into winter, this year’s respiratory virus season is already looking different than last year. Both Covid and flu are surging together.Dustin Chambers / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDuring the previous winter, flu and RSV got off to an early start but were already declining by the time hospitalizations from the omicron virus started to spike in December 2022.

“What is new this year is we’re seeing both flu and Covid going up together,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Phillips, chief epidemiologist at NYU Langone Health. “This is different.”

At NYU Langone, positive tests for flu and Covid are “neck and neck,” with slightly more people sick with Covid, Phillips said.

Dr. Helen Chu, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Washington, said providers are bracing for the impact of Covid and flu over the coming weeks in Washington state.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cold-and-flu/covid-flu-surging-risk-coinfection-test-rcna132345

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