CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The state has launched new online tools to show the state of respiratory viruses across Texas.
The Texas Respiratory Illness Interactive Dashboard will help health officials and doctors make informed decisions and provide answers to the public on which diseases are affecting the most people.
The online dashboard accessible through the Texas Department of State Health Service's Texas health data site shows trends in illnesses from influenza, COVID-19 and RSV, the "big three" respiratory viruses most likely to cause serious disease at this time of year.
Data includes emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths.
The dashboard provides a near real-time look at conditions, so people can make informed decisions on precautions for themselves and their families, and health care professionals can make recommendations to their patients.
Dr. Jamie Fergie, director of Infectious Diseases at Driscoll Children's Hospital said it will give him the opportunity to see how the viruses impact Texas regions outside of the Coastal Bend.
"I think what it allows me to do is look at what is happening in other areas of the state," Fergie said. "Because I know what's going on here, but I don't know what's going on down in, for example, in Brownsville and McAllen or Rio Grande City, and now I can see. What's going on in North Texas, in West Texas, east. And it gives me an idea of what they are dealing with."
Health Services is also publishing a new weekly respiratory virus surveillance report, combining separate reports on influenza, COVID-19 and RSV.
Doctors say respiratory virus season runs from October to may and usually peaks in the winter.
Dr. Fergie said we are still in the middle of COVID-19 and flu season and it's not too late to get vaccines for both to protect you and your family.
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