MTT #77: Is the ‘tripledemic’ returning? Will new vaccines help?

Last year, around this time, the CDC alerted physicians about the triple threat of Covid-19, seasonal influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). The result was one of the worst flu seasons in more than a decade.

In today’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, podcast cohost Dr. Robert Pearl discusses the return of the “triple-demic” this winter and what listeners should do about it.

According to forecasts, researchers expect a total of 1.15 million hospitalizations from these three viruses. How do those numbers stack up against last year? And will the newest vaccines prove more or less efficacious?

Also featured on today’s program:

  • Data on the new vaccine and its efficacy against the newer variants
  • The surprising reason Americans won’t get the new shot
  • Why the CDC is recommending this antibiotic after unprotected sex
  • The reason healthcare costs will rise 6.5% in 2024
  • How health benefits affect entrepreneurship, employee wages and prices
  • An unexpected development in government negotiations of drug prices
  • The return of the free Covid-19 testing kit program
  • Results of a genetically engineered pig heart transplant
  • Why innovative medical researchers struggle to get due recognition
  • KP’s massive labor strike and the reasons behind it
  • A new entrant among the retail giants trying to disrupt healthcare

Click here for more info: https://www.fixinghealthcarepodcast.com/

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.