If you and everyone you know seems sick right now, you are not imagining things.
And yes, it may have something to do with the fact that over the past two years many people have been wearing masks and avoiding others.
But that is far from the whole story.
Researchers say a number of factors influence current misery, including luck, characteristics of the immune system, and the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.

Why are so many people sick right now?
Pediatric infectious disease specialist, who leads the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. Ofer Levy said viral outbreaks vary naturally, some years being worse than others, but COVID-19 definitely affects natural patterns.
“It seems very likely to me that everything with the pandemic, with travel, etc., has changed some of these patterns,” he said.
The peak of respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, appears to have passed – but it’s unclear whether it’s coming earlier than usual this year, or if there will be another spike, as it peaked in summer in 2021. later in the season.
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said the flu epidemic in America could be as early as this year in Australia in the summer.
The flu may have peaked in a few places last week, with hospitalizations falling from the previous week.
While the flu shot may seem like a good match for circulating strains this year, H3N2, the most common circulating strain, is known to cause more serious illness.
And “vaccine fatigue” has kept flu vaccination rates below average this year. As of December 9, only 26% of American adults and 42.5% of children had received the flu shot.
“The dynamics are really complex, so it’s not surprising that we’re seeing something different this year,” said Al Ozonoff, a pediatric infectious disease researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Harvard and MIT Broad Institute. “COVID has really upended all standard relationships between viruses and it will take some time for them to recalibrate and reach a stable equilibrium.”
Are we done with COVID-19?
Unfortunately, the pandemic is not over yet, and it is not clear when it will end.
“We’re seeing an extraordinary increase,” Osterholm said, with deaths from COVID-19 up 71% in the last three weeks and associated hospital and intensive care bed use up 22%. “As a result, this was not done,” he said.
Although the virus continues to evolve, so far, researchers are not worried about the new variants.
Working on pathogens at the UMass Chan School of Medicine, Dr. Jeremy Luban said the vaccine vaccines target both the original virus and the BA.5 variant that circulated earlier this year, but the current variants are not that far off.
Otherwise, he said, healthy people who have been vaccinated or infected in the past year should have good protection against severe disease. “There is no evidence that the virus has moved away from this immune protection.”
Masking may have a minor effect
If there are previous masking factors in the current disease outbreak, Ozonoff doesn’t think it has a big impact. Studies do not show major differences between areas where strict masking is applied and areas where masking is not mandatory.
But theoretically it is possible.
Typically, people get the flu when they are infected or vaccinated. If they are subjected to a similar strain after a while, they can get a natural support. As people have been wearing masks and avoiding crowds for the past few years, the strain of flu and other viruses currently circulating may be different enough to make us sick.
Pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. “For a pathogen like RSV, we rely on exposure to RSV once or several times a year to boost our immunity on a very regular basis,” said Kristin Moffitt. “We were all experiencing this before the pandemic.”
Masking that prevents these minor exposures may be one of several factors involved in the current disease outbreak.
“We had a kind of a perfect storm,” he said, “where the population-level immunity needed to keep it at bay or prevent a spike in infections is lower than it normally would, and at the same time, everyone came back completely unmasked.” It went back to normal as the weather started to cool.”
Has COVID weakened our immune systems?
Researching antibodies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, Dr. Again, Duane Wesemann said this is theoretically possible, but the whole explanation is unlikely.
The immune system registers their exposure via antibodies, so having COVID-19 has likely changed it in some way. But Wesemann also said it’s tough enough to handle several years of isolation.
COVID-19 was a more serious threat than the flu, RSV or the common cold, so it made sense to protect ourselves against it—even if it has made us a little more vulnerable to less serious illness now, he said.
“We’re still winning here.”
How can I avoid getting sick?
Experts say the same strategies that worked at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic still work, and stratifying them would be more effective than just making one.
These strategies include vaccines. Both flu and COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing serious, if not all infections.
Levy said masking can be helpful, especially in crowded areas with poor ventilation.
If you don’t feel well, stay home.
Wash your hands frequently with soap and for at least 20 seconds.
For family gatherings, it makes sense to get a rapid COVID-19 test right before a get-together, especially if it involves babies or older or immunocompromised people. Anyone with insurance is entitled to eight free tests per month, and the federal government has reopened the covid.gov/tests portal to allow people to request four additional tests by mail.
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Contact Karen Weintraub at [email protected]
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