With fall officially underway, respiratory virus season begins as people start spending more time indoors. In addition to the annual new strain of influenza, COVID-19 continues to circulate worldwide, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) poses a threat, especially for young children and older adults—creating the perfect conditions for a potential “triple-demic.”
Effective, free and widely available vaccines are available for the flu, COVID and RSV. Michael S. Calderwood, MD, MPH, infectious disease physician and chief quality officer for Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, has produced a new video message on how individuals can protect themselves, their families and communities this respiratory virus season. Calderwood has been a trusted voice on the topic of infectious disease in northern New England, especially since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
*This video content is cleared for use by media outlets on all digital and broadcast platforms, with credit to Dartmouth Health.
For more information on what vaccines will be available and when, visit vaccines.gov. Commercial pharmacies throughout the region are also carrying and currently administering all three vaccines.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.