"Tripledemic" of flu, RSV and COVID-19 strains hospitals, worries doctors as cases spike

At Mass General Hospital for Children, the pediatric ICU is at full capacity. Most patients there are on oxygen or ventilators.

"This past year has been unlike any other years in the past, with RSV season starting way, much earlier," said Dr. Laura Pugsley, nursing director of inpatient pediatrics at the hospital in Boston. 

This year has gained a troublesome distinction nationwide as a trifecta of illnesses converge to plague the health care system and its patients: Nationwide, cases of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, are surging along with the flu and COVID-19 infections.