AMARILLO, TEXAS -- As influenza hits its peak about this time of year, doctors are seeing that same trend for RSV in babies and children.
RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is a fairly common winter virus that most often is more serious in children twelve months old or younger. Symptoms include nasal drainage, fever, and difficulty breathing. Local doctors say the number of cases have been up in recent weeks, but that's still fairly common this time of the year.
"We have been hitting that peak actually," said Texas Tech Physician, Dr. Amanda Griffin. "You can see that both in clinic visits being up, the hospital visits being up, ER visits being up. The past two to three weeks, the Pediatric Floors in the hospitals have been extremely busy and you usually see that peak come with both RSV and Influenza."
Dr. Griffin said only about one half to two percent of babies with RSV are actually hospitalized.
