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Flu is picking up steam while RSV lung infections that can hit kids and older people hard may be peaking, U.S. health officials said Friday. COVID-19, though, continues to cause the most hospitalizations and deaths among respiratory illnesses — about 15,000 hospitalizations and about 1,000 deaths every week, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Stobbe, 12/1)

Deaths held steady nationally last week, but a few states saw rises, including Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and West Virginia. Regarding ED visits for COVID, Iowa reported a substantial rise, and Wisconsin reported a moderate increase. Test positivity was highest in the lower Midwestern states, followed by those in the upper Midwest and the Mountain West. Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections, another early marker, are at high levels nationally, according to the CDC's new dashboard, especially in the Midwest. (Schnirring, 12/1)

Despite reported spikes of pneumonia cases among kids in two states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says U.S. transmission rates are still considered "typical" for this time of year. Health officials in Massachusetts and Ohio have reported a sharp uptick in pediatric pneumonia caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumonia, often the cause of what's known as "walking pneumonia" because of its typically mild symptoms. (Reed, 12/1)

The Bay Area is seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 at the same time as a pronounced influenza wave and a troubling climb in the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus. The gathering “tripledemic” prompted a coalition of regional health officers to issue joint recommendations on Thursday for safely navigating the upcoming holiday season — and it included strongly worded advice for some people to wear protective masks. (Vaziri, 12/1)

At a Pilsen school’s gym, 12-year-old Sofia Lemus sat down to get her third COVID-19 shot. The seventh grader, who wore stacks of friendship bracelets on her wrists, pulled up her sleeves, saying she wanted to get the vaccine so she didn’t get sick. “I was a little bit scared, because I thought it was going to hurt,” Lemus said. “But it didn’t hurt so I was OK.” (Johnson, 12/3)

Respiratory illnesses are on the rise. COVID-19 and more recently influenza have been leading to more hospitalizations, but respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is currently increasing fastest among the three in the Twin Cities seven-county region. Over the most recent two weeks, the number of RSV-related hospital admissions in the Twin Cities more than doubled, compared with increases of about one-quarter for both COVID-19 and the flu. For the time being, however, COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the region, at 5.6 per 100,000, remain much higher than either RSV (1.9 per 100,000) or influenza (0.5 per 100,000). (Clary and Helmstetter, 12/1)

Silly cat videos could be good for your health — at least if you are about to get one of the seasonal vaccines. For instance, when people who were in a positive mood got a flu shot that day, they produced higher levels of antibodies to help them fight the disease, according to one British study. This data on mood and vaccines is limited, but a substantial body of research shows many other lifestyle factors — such as diet, exercise and even social interactions — may affect how much protection people get from vaccines, including, it appears covid-19 jabs. (Zaraska, 12/3)

People in high-income countries who are considered "solo diners" rate their quality of life lower than more social diners, according to a recent study from Gallup and the Ajinomoto Group. The study constitutes another piece of evidence that the "epidemic of loneliness" that was exacerbated by COVID "has real consequences," Andrew Dugan, the research director of the study, told Axios. (Saric, 12/2)