Calgary Family Physician Discusses Tridemics

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It’s called the triple-demic – a tridemic – the result of three viruses making people very sick. Calgarians have already seen the impact of RSV, influenza and COVID-19 pushing Alberta Children’s Hospital beyond capacity.

With people getting together over the holidays, it could get worse.

Dr. Jia Hu is a family physician in Calgary and CEO of 19 to Zero, an organization that aims to shift public perceptions toward healthier behaviors. He joined CTV News anchor Ian White to talk about strategies for coping with tridemics.

Dr. Jia Hu is a family physician in Calgary

Q. What is the tridemic scenario right now?

A. It could get a bit better, especially there are indications that flu cases are decreasing in Alberta and across the country. I thought RSV plateaued a few weeks ago, but regardless, what we’re still seeing is very, very high levels, especially of respiratory viruses.

You mentioned tridemia (of) influenza, RSV and COVID-19. This is why we are witnessing a particular traffic jam in our hospitals. Children are very hard hit this season.

Q. More people are said to be in ICUs with the flu than with COVID-19. How serious is this flu?

A. It’s a pretty tough season. Keeping in mind that last year and the year before we had virtually no flu thanks to the measures we have put in place to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. We also have fairly low flu vaccination rates, even though we are seeing such an increase in cases this season. We’re kind of going back to that normal type of (scenario) before COVID happened.

Every year we have a flu season, we have RSV and a host of other respiratory viruses that can make you and your family sick, but I think the confluence of maybe not being exposed, with very bad early flu and RSV and with basic COVID makes a lot of people sick and even seriously ill.

19 to zero

Q. Can you receive both the COVID-19 booster and a flu shot on the same day?

A. I would recommend people get them the same day, it’s much easier. They are widely available in pharmacies. We have plenty of supplies that you can reserve online.

As far as doing something to protect yourself, it’s one of the easiest things to do with all the (virus) stuff around. Eating these things healthy is also important, but nothing is as quick and easy as vaccinations.

Q. What is the scenario if you get a fourth shot? How does this improve your chances of entering the holiday season?

A. With COVID, what we see is that after three to six months you start to see your immunity to the virus wane, especially with these new variants coming in since we got Omicron.

A lot of people have had milder COVID because they’ve been vaccinated and I think that’s still causing a significant number of hospitalizations, that’s just kind of the key to jump-starting your immune system to protect you against COVID .

It’s really very good. Maybe not as good at preventing infections but very good at preventing serious infections so the things that would get you to the ER or hospitalization and I think those are generally places that people want to avoid from These days.

Q. How often do patients present you with misinformation? And how do you explain to them?

A. Many people these days, there are still people who don’t really believe in vaccines, but I think most people are just not aware of the basic facts. Many people think for example that the flu shot doesn’t work because they get sick right after getting the shot, but this could be caused by a number of viruses.

With COVID, I think a lot of people just don’t realize how bad it can still be because most people in the past have been vaccinated with something.

Meeting someone like that, I think the best way to engage them is really to show empathy and try to understand where they’re coming from because right now I understand that recommendations for vaccines can be quite confusing in terms of when to get it, after you’ve passed the infection, when to get it for a past booster, but I think the bottom line is now if you haven’t had the flu shot, if you haven’t had a COVID infection or a COVID recall in the past 3-6 months, you should get one.

It’s the best way to protect yourself as the holiday season approaches.

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