RSV Cases Have Skyrocketed in Tampa Bay, Affecting Young Children

Earlier this month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned the residents in the South that a common cold virus known as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is causing the unusual wave of late spring disease in the US.

They also issued a Health Advisory Network warning to doctors and allied medical professionals to be on alert for RSV, which causes pneumonia in babies and young children.

Increased respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is being seen across parts of the Southern U.S. #RSV commonly causes mild illness, like a common cold. It is leading cause of hospitalizations due to respiratory illness among children under one & can be dangerous for older adults.(1/2) pic.twitter.com/LeIMgRAhRn
— CDC (@CDCgov) June 17, 2021

RSV in Tampa Bay

Doctors in Tampa Bay have renewed concern for infants and young children as they are at the most risk of having RSV. Dr. Claudia Espinosa, Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of South Florida, said that the RSV infection is not a fun virus that could endanger lives.

According to Eminetra, cases of RSV have recently skyrocketed across Tampa Bay. The CDC is now worried that its cases are not decreasing as more and more children have become sick due to the virus.

Doctors said that RSV typically spreads during the winter months, like the common flu virus. But seeing the spike of RSV cases now and in the last few months during the warmer climate is very unusual.

"It is the predominant thing we are seeing in the emergency department right now," said Dr. Joseph Perno, the chief medical officer for John's Hopkins All Children's Hospital, as quoted by Fox 2 Now.

AdventHealth in Tampa Bay has also recorded a spike in RSV cases, said Dr. Sara Kirby, a doctor in the ER. She recalled that the unusual number of cases started in April and continues to increase in June, which is also unusual.

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RSV in Young Children and Adults

Daily Tampa News reported that RSV in infants and young children could be severe. It can easily affect their airways, leading to developing bronchitis and pneumonia in children under one year old, specifically infants who are only one or two months old.

Symptoms of RSV could include irritability, fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite, fever, cough, sneezing, and headache. Pediatrician Dr. David Berger of Wholistic Family Care said that the RSV could cause asthma-like symptoms and bronchitis that causes spasms in airways which explains the wheezing.

Although infants and young children are at most risk for the virus, doctors said that adults could also catch it and experience similar symptoms as those with young children and could also have the severe form.

RSV has no specific treatment, but it could last for a week or two. Doctors encourage the public to practice proper hygiene practices, such as regularly washing their hands to keep the virus away.

Like COVID-19, the CDC said that RSV could be transmitted via droplets from a cough or sneeze or through direct contact with an infected person. Statistically speaking, RSV could lead to 58,000 hospitalizations and 100-500 deaths in children below 5 in the US. Meanwhile, an average of 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths are recorded among people 65 years old and above.