Is COVID-19 a Seasonal Virus Yet?

The most common respiratory viruses that cause flu, colds, and RSV tend to cluster in the fall and winter months. Though that means months of elevated risk for sickness, “cold and flu season” is a convenient time for public-health officials to remind people to get vaccinated and wash their hands more frequently. Experts had hoped that COVID-19 would follow that same pattern, but so far, that’s not the case. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] COVID-19 occurs in every season Both flu and RSV tend to plummet to near negligible levels in spring and summer before surging again in the fall and winter. COVID-19 does not seem to fall into that same seasonal pattern. While COVID-19 cases also peak during the winter season, they persist throughout the spring and summer at a lower but still significant level. “We do not see COVID-19 reach the same low levels as influenza and RSV during the late spring and summer,” says Andrew Pekosz, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “That’s why we can’t treat this like flu, because we are not seeing it go away like we see with flu. There is going to be a risk of getting COVID-19 year-round.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nodded to the lack of seasonality of COVID-19 when it recently updated its vaccination guidance for older people. It advised those over 65—the age group...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news