Here are the signs you should look out for – NBC Chicago

Even though COVID positivity rates and hospitalizations have declined in recent weeks, for many concerns persist about becoming ill this fall, a time of the year which typically sees a surge in COVID, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, infections.

While data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown a drop in positivity rates and hospitalizations over the past week, from Oct. 8-14, hospitalizations have risen 4.2% during that same time period.

Stronger immunity, COVID vaccines, tests and effective treatments have helped with keeping people out of the hospital in recent months, according to an article published Sept. 1 by the University of California Davis Health. So far this fall, EG.5, an omicron subvariant commonly known as Eris, has proven to be the most dominant strain. EG.5 accounted for 23.6% of all new cases between Oct. 1-14, according to the CDC’s variant proportions data.

The strain’s dominance has…