A respiratory illness similar to COVID-19 is popping up in children.
The CDC has issued a warning about RSV this summer, something that usually happens during the winter months. Outbreaks of RSV have been listed in nearby Springfield and in Hannibal, Missouri. According to WICS, at St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield, health experts say they’re seeing 3 to 4 cases of RSV a day.
For those younger than 6-months-old, symptoms may include irritability, not eating well, and being lethargic.
Older kids may develop a wet, raspy cough, fever, and wheezing. There are no medications to treat RSV. Doctors say symptoms should subside after about 3 days. If they don’t, contact your primary care physician.
Doctors say RSV is like COVID in the fact that it spreads through direct exposure to respiratory droplets in coughs and sneezes and through contact with contaminated surfaces.
Doctors say that most children who experience COVID symptoms experience gastrointestinal symptoms along with it.
The CDC recommends that health care workers increase testing for RSV among patients who have symptoms of an acute respiratory illness but who test negative for COVID-19.
The CDC issued an advisory last month for health care workers about RSV following dramatic rise in the South.
The CDC said RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis, which is a lung infection, and pneumonia in children under 1. The CDC says RSV causes around 58,000 hospitalizations and 100 to 500 deaths among kids younger than five annually.