RSV cases surging across Northeast Ohio, affecting younger children

A respiratory virus different from COVID-19 is causing illnesses among infants and children this cold and flu season.

Cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are overloading local children’s hospitals, emergency rooms and pediatricians’ offices, said Dr. Michael Bigham, chief quality officer at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Normally, RSV is seen later in the season, but this year the virus arrived earlier, and cases are more severe than in previous years, he said.

“It would be more common, we would think of RSV as being sort of a December, January February illness, not a September, October, November illness,” he said. “It’s more of a wintertime illness, than a fall illness.”

The virus typically causes children to experience mild symptoms that include a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, and fever similar to a common cold, the flu and COVID-19. Most children recover in a week or two, but RSV can lead to bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs) in children younger than 1 year of age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bigham said countries in the Southern hemisphere had a pretty significant influenza impact during their winter, which was our summer, and saw fairly high volumes of influenza cases.

“We were already coming into this season forecasting a pretty significant influenza season, compared to the last couple of flu seasons, which had been quite mild,” Bigham said.

The CDC reported 29% of U.S. citizens who were tested for respiratory infections during the week of Nov. 5 were positive for RSV.

The Ohio Department of Health doesn’t track respiratory syncytial virus cases, but CDC data shows Ohio has also seen an increase in positive RSV tests in recent weeks.

Roughly 56% of Ohioans tested for RSV were positive during the week of Nov. 5, according to the CDC report, which is 27% higher than the national average.

Ohio’s Director of Health, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff addressed the recent increase of RSV hopsitalizations and Infuenza and COVID-19 cases across the state during a Nov. 15 press briefing.

“The result though of an early and dramatic spike in RSV, and now an overlapping rise in influenza is high demands on our hospitals, Vanderhoff said. “And right now most especially on our children’s hospitals, their emergency departments, urgent care centers, and primary care offices are all experiencing very high patient volumes”

Akron Children’s Hospital had about 20% more positive cases the week of Nov. 13 than the previous week, Bigham said.

“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of RSV in the community,” he said. “We have had probably about eight weeks or so…a fairly significant rise in RSV cases.”

RSV hospitalizations are most common in children less than a year old who are experiencing breathing issues and low oxygen levels, Bigham said.

While adults usually aren’t heavily affected by the virus, they can still contract it and transmit it to others, said Tara Smith, a Kent State professor of epidemiology.

“Younger people, especially babies, obviously don’t have immunity to RSV, so they’re the ones that tend to be most seriously infected,” she said. “Infants who are born prematurely…may have additional susceptibilities to RSV.”

Additionally, elderly people and immunocompromised patients can be at risk for RSV, she said.

“As you age, your immune system just doesn’t work as well,” Smith said. “​​When your immune system is just not working as well, you tend to be more susceptible to serious infections.”

Just like the flu, RSV was almost non-existent during the pandemic because of the public health measures in place, such as social distancing and masking, Bigham said.

“We’ve had two relatively mild flu seasons and RSV seasons…we had a relatively typical 2019-2020 winter RSV season, and then we didn’t have much in 2020-2021,” he said. “It’s almost three years of…a really not that bad of an RSV season.”

Bigham said he is not surprised to see an increase in flu and RSV cases now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

Currently, there’s no immunization for RSV, but doctors recommend talking with your child’s pediatrician about getting them the flu and COVID shots.

Children 6 months and older are able to get a flu shot, Bigham said.

Protecting you and your child against the flu and other respiratory viruses reduces the chances of becoming severely ill, said Dr. Kenneth Remy, a critical care physician at University Hospitals.

“When you put the [flu and RSV] together, you can see that mortality and or morbidity could be substantial,” he said. “Which is why it’s good to protect yourself at least in a fashion that allows you to get some benefit.”

Getting the vaccine doesn’t mean you won’t get the virus or experience some mild symptoms, Remy said.

“[Flu vaccines are] devised, actually, so that you don’t have severe illness and require hospitalization and or die from them,” he said.

Remy said the simplest way to stay protected against viruses this cold and flu season is to remember to wash your hands.

“It’s said over and over and over and over, but lots of people inadvertently will touch handrails and will sneeze and cough,” he said, “so washing your hands by itself will probably reduce transmission.”

Although it’s difficult to determine the future of the RSV virus, Remy is hopeful that we’ll overcome it, just like the pandemic.

“Take a deep breath, we’re gonna get through this winter season,” Remy said. “We can’t let fear and worrying and anxiety associated with this certainly govern what I think are good best practices.”

A respiratory virus different from COVID-19 is causing illnesses among infants and children this cold and flu season. Read more below⬇️https://t.co/5G2NLPLosZ

— Joshua Bailey (@JoshuaBaileyTV) November 26, 2022