Hospital visits for respiratory viruses on the rise in King County

Public health officials in King County say more residents need to get the updated COVID vaccine as cases of respiratory viruses are on the rise.

Weekly visits to hospital emergency rooms in King County for respiratory viruses remain high after an increase that started in November.

There were more than 400 ER visits for the flu during last week, and more than 150 visits for RSV. Both are above the county’s bar for high transmission.

This is the first season where vaccines for RSV, COVID and the flu are available, yet not many eligible people are getting them.

Eric Chow is chief of communicable disease epidemiology at Public Health – Seattle & King County. He said that many people are tired of vaccines.

"People are either exhausted from talking about vaccines or maybe no longer feel that they need the vaccines. Which is unfortunate because I think this is precisely the time when people should be getting vaccinated, staying up to date to protect themselves from severe disease complications," Chow said.

According to the county, a quarter of its residents have received all recommended doses of the COVID vaccine. By this time last year, a third of residents had received the shot.

However, roughly a quarter of county residents have received the updated COVID vaccine, which is low compared to previous years. COVID visits to the ER have also increased but so far remain below the county's bar for high spread of the virus.

Chow said if cases of these respiratory viruses remain high, that could present challenges for hospitals.

"I know that we're not the same place as we were at the height of the pandemic where I think hospitals were really stretched thin but I think we're always right on the cusp and at risk for being in those scenarios and we never really want to get to that point," Chow said.

The county health department has a list of places to get vaccinated on its website, including a Kent clinic that offers free COVID vaccines to uninsured people.

Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.