Kris Deeter, M.D.

This cold and flu season has been particularly rough, with rates of RSV, the flu and new COVID variants on the rise and exacerbated by the shortage in children’s medications.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is common respiratory illness that causes fever and mild cold-like symptoms.

With several viruses on the rise, all with similar cold-like symptoms, it can be hard to tell what illness your child is suffering from.

A mother of five in New York is alerting parents to the dangers of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) after a recent outbreak infected three of her daughters and led to hospitalization for one of them.

A new study estimates that 1 in 50 deaths of healthy children under age 5 worldwide is due to respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is currently surging in the US. In high-income countries, researchers estimate that 1 in 56 babies who are born on time and are healthy will be hospitalized with RSV in the first year of life.