Becker's Hospital Review

53 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY Other viruses suppressed amid COVID-19 pandemic could make strong rebound, experts say By Erica Carbajal C OVID-19 prevention measures, such as widespread mask wearing, have helped suppress other common re- spiratory and gastrointestinal viruses, though experts say they could make a vigorous comeback when coronavirus cases eventually decline, e Washington Post reported. The prevalence of viruses such as influenza A, influenza B, parainfluenza and norovi- rus, among others, are at record low levels in the U.S. this year. Reports of enterovirus D68, a rare infection linked to polio-like paralysis in children, are also down. "It's crazy," Lynnette Brammer, head of the CDC's Domestic Influenza Surveillance team, told the Post. "is is my 30th flu season. I never would have expected to see flu activity this low." e CDC's weekly flu map would normally be full with shades of blue and red by now, indicating "high" or "very high" flu activity. However, for the week ending Jan. 2, all states were reporting minimal or low flu activity. is may also be linked to a record number of people getting the flu shot this flu season. However, experts warn that such viruses could make a large rebound once COVID-19 prevention measures are relaxed. "e best analogy is to a forest fire," said Bry- an Grenfell, an epidemiologist and popula- tion biologist at Princeton University in New Jersey. "For the fire to spread, it needs to have unburned wood ... So if people don't get in- fected this year by these viruses, they likely will at some point later on," he told the Post. In Australia, this has already started. e Post cited a report showing record low levels of flu-like illness in Australia last May, it's usual start of flu season. When the country began easing restrictions aer getting the corona- virus under control, flu cases started to rise again. By December, when flu activity is usu- ally low in that hemisphere, cases among chil- dren age 5 and younger were six times higher than normal. Waning immunity to other common viruses means when they return, some of those infec- tions may also be more severe, experts said. "It's certainly a good thing that we're keeping these other infections in check right now, when our hospitals are filled with COVID-19 patients," Ben Lopman, PhD, an epidemi- ologist at Emory University in Atlanta, told the Post. "But we're learning that the effects of the pandemic are complex. ey're going to be long-lasting. And we're going to find that they extend beyond just the disease that SARS-CoV-2 causes." n Patients would pay $2,607 more for hospital with extra quality star, study finds By Mackenzie Bean M any patients preferred to pay more to receive care from a provider with a better quality ranking, according to a study published Jan. 5 in Health Affairs. The study involved 200 patients with hip or knee pain who were seen at an academic joint arthroplasty outpatient practice in the first five months of 2018. Researchers analyzed data on the trade-offs patients were willing to make in choosing a provider for a hypothetical total joint replacement. Patients were willing to pay an extra $2,607 for a hospital with an additional quality star and $3,152 more for a physician with an extra star, on a five-star scale. Researchers found patients were also willing to pay an extra $11.45 to avoid traveling an extra mile for care. This trend was especially prevalent among older patients. "Patients appear willing to accept significantly higher copayments for higher quality of care, and surgeon quality seems relatively more important than hospital quality," researchers concluded. "Further study is needed to understand the value and trust patients place in publicly reported hospital and surgeon quality ratings." n

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