Dr. Dylan: Spiking RSV cases

WDIO’s Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Dylan Wyatt sat down with us to discuss the skyrocketing number of RSV cases among the youngest Americans. Each day, more and more kids are getting sick– with the virus that is transmissible on hard surfaces, unlike Covid-19.

“I’ve been feeling a building of it over the past few weeks. We’ve been seeing more and more cases. Thankfully, not too many really, really sick kids yet” Dr. Dylan explains. “But the problem is there’s also a lot of other viruses around as well that maybe won’t hit kids as hard to. It can be really different, really difficult to differentiate between those.”

Dr. Dylan explained that RSV fits into the CDC’s influenza-like illness category. And in normal years we may recognize what is happening as the cold and other seasonal illnesses.

What’s different is that kids don’t have the same immunity that they used to due to the lack of community exposure, which could be caused by masking and staying home.

Here’s what to look out for: a congested nose that can lead to dehydration- plus trouble breathing. That’s when you should go see a doctor. And in the meantime kids should stay home from school when they’re sick to avoid spreading their illness further, Dr. Dylan explains the community impact of both in Part I and Part II.