The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted doctors Tuesday about a rise in severe cases of RSV among young children in Florida and Georgia.
Regional increases have usually predicted the beginning of RSV season nationally, the CDC wrote in its advisory, "with increased RSV activity spreading north and west over the following 2–3 months."
The late-summer increase appears to suggest that RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is once again falling into a typical seasonal pattern after several years of unusually early viral activity due to the pandemic.
From Aug. 5 through Aug. 19, the rate of RSV-related hospitalizations increased from 2 in 100,000 kids ages 4 and younger, to 7 per 100,000, the CDC reported. The majority of those hospitalizations were in babies less than a year old.
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Every year, RSV infections cause about 2 million doctor visits, 80,000 hospitalizations and up to 300 deaths in children under five, according to the CDC.
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