The “tripledemic”—a term referring to a simultaneous increase in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, and the flu—was indeed a feature of many Americans’ lives over the past month or so, including the holiday season, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s January COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey.
The survey was conducted from Jan.17-24 online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1,234 US adults.
Nearly four in 10 (38%) adults surveyed reported that their households had someone who was sick with at least one of these three viruses over the past several weeks. About three in 10 (27%) adults said someone in their household was sick with the flu, and smaller, though substantial, shares experienced COVID-19 (15%) or RSV (10%).
Additionally, at least a quarter of adults said they were worried about RSV, COVID-19, or the flu. Three in 10 (31%) adults said they were “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about seriously getting sick with COVID-19, a slightly larger share than those who said the same of the flu (26%) and RSV (25%).
Adults who reported being immunocompromised or having a weakened immune system due to a disease, treatment, or medication were more likely to be worried about getting seriously sick from RSV or the flu than non-immunocompromised adults, according to the survey. Adults who were immunocompromised and those who were not immunocompromised were equally worried about COVID-19. And, younger adults under age 30 were less likely than adults ages 30-49 to say they were “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about getting seriously sick from RSV, COVID-19, and the flu.
As for parents, nearly half said they were “very” or “somewhat” worried about their children getting sick with one of these viruses, including 46% who said they were worried about RSV, 44% about the flu, and 41% about COVID-19.
