RSV is a highly contagious lung infection that can wreak havoc on kids and now experts say it's showing up earlier than normal.
Parents know, usually, it's the fall and winter months that this infection will make its way from kid to kid. The infection can be dangerous as it makes it difficult for kids with developing immune systems to breathe.
According to the CDC, there were 1,700 confirmed cases of RSV in the U.S. during the last week of July. Last year, during the same week, less than a dozen.
Locally, Dr. Devon Ebbing, a pediatrician at the Vancouver Clinic, says RSV and COVID-19 have similar symptoms -- and our area has seen a rise in both.
It’s a little unnerving to all of us to see a virus that we usually see a peak in December and January and already impacting some of our youngest patients,” Dr. Ebbing said.
Experts say one of the biggest symptomatic differences is wheezing and it's important that parents get their kids to the doctor if they believe it is RSV.
But, what is causing the unusually early cases? Dr. Ebbing says because for the better part of the last year we have all been good about wearing masks and staying distanced it slowed the spread of many illnesses.
However, at the start of the summer, mask guidance loosened, allowing more spread of illnesses we normally don’t see at this time of the year.
“In the last month we are doing more COVID swabs just with these other viruses in the community and we are definitely seeing an increase in COVID-positive results for pediatric patients,” Dr. Ebbing said.
Dr. Ebbing says with kids heading back to school and these infections going around it's more important than ever to keep your kids home if they aren't feeling well. That will help mitigate the spread of any of these infections.