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The 'quad-demic': What is it, and how can you stay healthy?

9 1
09.01.2025

Staying healthy in the New Year presents a new challenge for Americans who are coping with what health officials are calling a "quad-demic," which involves a quartet of infectious viruses that are making the rounds.

Each of the maladies can target different groups and age ranges, but here’s what you need to know to avoid contracting these illnesses and some tips for remaining healthy.

What is the quad-demic?

Although the trifecta of flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are commonly paired, norovirus outbreaks around the U.S. have added to concerns of a quad-demic.

“All of the viruses are here, it’s just they’re affecting different areas a little bit differently,” Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr., medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told Fortune.

Flu

Cases of influenza, or the flu, reached 40 million between 2023-2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most people recover from the flu within days to a couple of weeks, but some cases can become severe. Approximately 28,000 people died last flu season, per the CDC.

Flu symptoms include:

  • Fever or feeling feverish/chills
  • Cough
  • Sore throat
  • Runny or stuffy nose
  • Muscle or body aches
  • Headaches
  • Fatigue

COVID-19

COVID-19 has become a part of life just as the flu once did. Cases are nowhere near as high as they were when the virus was first introduced, but the U.S. is still seeing positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths.

COVID-19 antigen home tests........

© The Hill