Oh, the places you’ll go when flu season hits

Dr. Rogers raises concerns about supplies as flu season approaches. Shortages, a vexation of the pandemic, might continue to be a problem, for both SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory viruses “because of the world we live in right now,” Dr. Rogers says. “The honest truth is, we don’t actually know if there’s going to be any supply issues with the panels. We’ll just have to find out.”

Fortunately, she continued, the earlier supply problems—including shortages of collection kits—that affected Children’s had become a thing of the past, and in August the lab was operating at capacity. With four platforms up and running, she anticipated SARS-CoV-2 testing demands could be met, at least for the foreseeable future.

That has been a relief, she says. She and her lab colleagues finally have the ability to know “at least some facts about what is and what isn’t available. The manufacturers have really stepped up.”

Dr. Rogers has also been keeping a close eye on staffing. Though she’s pleased the lab is finally at capacity, returning to a degree of normalcy, she describes the past few months as tiring. “The techs are actually getting a chance to breathe a little bit,” she says, “and they’ve realized how exhausted they are.” At the same time, the lab is beginning to offer additional tests “that have been holding for months, because there was absolutely no bandwidth to think about doing anything else” besides SARS-CoV-2 testing.

As the lab becomes busier in a normal sense, it’s hard to say if “normal” will last. Even a normal flu season—Thing One—can feel like a roll of the dice. With SARS-CoV-2 joining the fray, bedlam might feel imminent. “Probably the thing that keeps us off balance the most is we never know what’s going to be happening with this virus,” Dr. Rogers says.

So much depends on human behavior. “Who knows what’s going to happen in the months ahead?” she asks. The respiratory season may be less severe if people are masking and otherwise protecting themselves from SARS-CoV-2. “Or maybe not,” she says. “Maybe people are going to get tired of it and go out without masks. Nobody knows.”

Will more people than usual seek the flu vaccine than in years past? Or will misinformation and mistrust of vaccines drive folks away from the flu shot, not to mention from a future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine? Dr. Rogers has already heard misgivings voiced about the latter. “These are times like we’ve never seen before,” she says.

As she contemplates the months ahead, she comes back to the thing she finds simultaneously predictable and unsettling. “I am surprised that we as a nation have ignored staying safe.” She pauses, then adds: “But people are people. And trust me—I don’t fault anyone. It’s exhausting not to hug anyone. That’s very difficult. It’s a difficult time for the world.”

Dr. Rogers also finds herself a bit taken aback. “I’m surprised by the spikes we’re seeing this summer,” she says.

In the deus ex machina ending of Dr. Seuss’ tale, the behatted cat literally rode a machine to the rescue (although it wasn’t a molecular platform). The ending may have seemed like a miracle, but the anxiety wasn’t put to rest. Questions lingered.

So, too, with SARS-CoV-2 and the respiratory season. “I thought it would be more under control at this point,” says Dr. Rogers. “I don’t know how this is going to end up.”

Karen Titus is CAP TODAY contributing editor and co-managing editor.