Capital Region doctors seeing rise in patients due to tripledemic

Doctors in the Capital Region are seeing a rise in patients due to the tripledemic.

Dr. James Saperstone with Community Care Physicians in Guilderland said there have been several years where the flu virus was dormant because people were masking. Now that people are no longer masking, they are seeing more people get sick.

Saperstone said many kids that come in have colds and fevers. He said parents get worried when they hear about RSV, but that it’s a typical upper respiratory virus.

To make matters worse, he said it’s been tough finding antibiotics and parents are struggling to find Motrin or Tylenol.

There have been some cases where urgent care centers are maxed out to the point that their staff is getting sick, so some urgent care centers are short-staffed.

“We are beaten. It has been a really difficult fall, and I’ve been doing this for 42 years. It’s not that any of these viruses or illnesses are terribly severe, it’s just there’s so much of it.”

Saperstone encourages people to get the flu shot. He also said there is light at the end of the tunnel, and believes things will be better next year.