ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Monroe County is seeing an increase in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause severe breathing problems. The county health department said RSV killed two of her people over the age of 65.
In just six weeks, the virus has hospitalized 238 people. About 70% of hospitalized patients are 4 years old or younger.
Health leaders said there are more than 2,200 laboratory-confirmed RSV cases in the county, mostly in infants and young children. The virus hospitalizes about 80,000 children in the United States each year, but it can also harm older people.
said Angela Branche, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at UR Medicine. “And thanks to all these mitigation strategies to reduce transmission, with influenza and RSV season in our communities like now, all the babies and young children who are susceptible because they’ve never been infected. We are going to see a huge number of cases.”
RSV usually causes cold symptoms such as cough and runny nose. However, it can cause serious breathing problems and can lead to pneumonia, which often requires hospitalization. For more information on how to protect your family from RSV, visit CDC website.
More about RSV:
