Moderna trial quad flu vaccine

[M_T]

Moderna has announced a phase 1/2 trial for a quadrivalent vaccine against influenza A H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B Yamagata and Victoria


Their vision, but not this trial apparently, is to have a single vaccine that targets
  1. influenza
  2. COVID-19 variant booster
  3. RSV

I had seen the CDC warning about rampant RSV but I hadn't heard about it in CA any.
Then I talked to someone in TX who said the hospitals had a heavy load of RSV.
I just checked the CDC tables and TX is getting 20% positive on PCR tests, while CA is < 2%.
The US is about 26% positive, with 1000 detections a week.

(This is not a traditional season for high RSV infections.)

[Hurlburt88]

I look forward to continued vaccine advances targeting wider disease spectrums.   

Any thoughts out there on what is driving the RSV increase?

[M_T]

Thoughts, yes. But it's just my uninformed guesses. Not based on what I've read.
(By the way, I was going to visit my sister-in-law today, but she came down with a "cold". RSV? I don't know. I don't think it is Delta Covid.)

One theory I read was that RSV among the very young is possibly because they are getting it all at once. In previous years, the illnesses were spread out over a longer period, and often happened at home as older siblings brought it home. My opinion is you can probably find evidence to support/refute this by looking at kids who's siblings have been in school for longer periods.

I wonder if our resistance ("immunity" from having it previously) against RSV is short-lived. We don't notice very minor infections throughout the year, but each exposure/minor illness is a booster. We haven't had any for quite a while, so we're very vulnerable.

Also, maybe we are being hyper-sensitive and reporting cases that we would have ignored if we weren't worried it was COVID.

(Hmmm... sorta reminds me of a C-Diff infection after a course of antibiotics. The normal biome that competes with C-Diff has been wiped out and the C-Diff wins the land rush for all those nutrients.)

[Hurlburt88]

THanks.  Anecdote/artisinal datapoint:  my college-aged son has 2 friends with coughs & fever.   Both COVID-vaccinated.   ONly one has been tested so far for COVID and it came back negative.