‘Quad-Demic’ Of Illnesses Straining U.S. Hospitals, Emergency Rooms

Public health officials are warning that a “quad-demic” — a contagious combination of COVID-19, influenza, RSV and the nasty stomach bug norovirus — is putting pressure on emergency rooms and hospitals nationwide.

It’s not unusual for any of these viruses to ramp up in the winter when people spend more time cooped up indoors, making it easier to pass viruses around. All four can cause symptoms severe enough to require a trip to the emergency room.

Respiratory viruses are at high or very high levels across most of the country, according to the latest surveillance report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency said in an update Friday that nationally, wastewater surveillance shows viral activity is high for influenza A and moderate for RSV.

COVID-19 levels are low, but coupled with norovirus, offer a quadruple threat.

Norovirus data from public health laboratories from around the country tallied by the CDC shows that Midwest states from Kansas to Michigan are the hardest hit by the highly contagious stomach bug, whose symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus positivity test levels in all regions of the country are as high or higher than last season’s peak nationwide.

In its most recent update on respiratory viruses, the CDC said COVID predictions for the next two weeks suggest that emergency department visits will remain at a lower level compared to prior winter seasons. Influenza predictions suggest that emergency department visits will be high and will increase in most states.

Dr. Matthew Sims, director of infectious disease research for Corewell Health, a health care system in Michigan, told ABC News the number of patients coming to emergency rooms for influenza and COVID-19 began ticking up in mid-January. Many were admitted to the hospital, he said.

“We are seeing patients who are having to wait before they can get transferred to a room," he told the network. “I have a patient who’s in the ICU and was ready to come out and she just didn’t have a room, so it took a little while. So, the hospital itself is pretty full.”

Dr. Scott Roberts, medical director of infection prevention at Yale New Haven Health, told ABC that finding beds can

“What we’re seeing now is that the hospitals near 100 percent capacity almost all the time, and when you add an extra 100 patients with respiratory viral disease who otherwise would not be there if this wasn’t respiratory viral season, you really tax the system,” he said. “And so, we are seeing that at Yale. We're seeing a very full hospital near 100 percent capacity. We’re seeing very full emergency rooms with waits to get into the hospital because of that.”