Respiratory illnesses like influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are leading to many people being seriously ill, overwhelming hospitals and health care providers across Illinois. Flu remains the dominant virus “We're seeing a lot of patients be positive with the flu. It makes you feel really bad with headache, body aches, chills, cough and fevers to name a few,” says Sarah Overton, chief nursing officer of OSF Medical Group, Home Care and Employee Health. “But we're also seeing some COVID-19 and RSV. RSV attacks very young children and older adults." All the viruses spiking at the same time have been "somewhat crippling" for healthcare providers, Overton says OSF HealthCare hospitals are seeing high inpatients counts, with many people coming in sick with respiratory illnesses through the emergency department. Across Illinois, nearly 20% of emergency department visits were for acute respiratory illness, according to the Illinois Department of
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