Here we go again

And by the headline of this blog, I don't mean the holidays.

Slowly and surely, we are being warned about a triumvirate of viruses about to assault us this winter: RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), influenza and Covid.

We're already pretty familiar with the flu and Covid. The flu has been with us for centuries, it seems. Covid (often confused with the flu by those who want to ignore the science) has been with us since late 2019, even though it seems like centuries.

And RSV appears to be the newcomer in this group of three even though it's been around for ages. It's actually a relatively common virus that causes infections in the respiratory tract, and while it can affect adults, it seems to be targeting high-risk infants in its current form, which is probably why it's in the news these days. That and the fact that hospitals are becoming overloaded with patients again.

 RSV can be treated with oxygen therapy.

As far as the flu is concerned, it's my understanding that those medical professionals responsible for preparing the correct flu vaccine with the correct corresponding strain of the flu virus have hit the target this year. There is optimism that the flu shot should be very effective this go around.

And the predicted/anticipated rise in Covid this winter already has us talking about masking, mandates, social distancing and vaccinations, and we barely finished with our turkey.

It'll be interesting to see who's listening. A couple weeks ago, a report came out that Covid was killing twice as many Republicans (who mostly abstained from the science of vaccinations because of their political persuasion to defy logic) as Democrats (who mostly begged for vaccinations). There's some empirical evidence for you. See here.

Kim and I are up to date on all of our vaccinations. In fact, we've also been vaccinated for shingles. Plus, I've gotten the pneumonia shot and recently had an update on my tetanus shot. Just call me Pincushion Bruce. I don't care. I'll take any shot they tell me to if it gets me to my 72nd birthday.

There's one epidemic for which there seems to be no cure. Mass shootings seem to be on the rise again, occurring at a godawful rate of nearly two per day – more than 608 mass shooting this year alone. According to the Gun Violence Archive, which keeps track of these things, there have been 40,133 deaths to gun violence this year, including 614 to mass shootings.

That's a lot of empty seats at the Christmas table.

Why do we insist on killing ourselves this way? What other country eats its own like this?

If only there was a vaccination for gun violence.