Rising RSV Cases in West Tennessee

JACKSON, TENNESSEE

Respiratory Syncytial Virus, (RSV) is a virus that is not only affecting the youngest patients but is now impacting older children as well.

“I've been a pediatrician for twenty-five years, and it’s more than I've ever seen in my career. I would say that more than eighty percent of our patients at the unit are here because of RSV”

Symptoms of RSV include coughing, sneezing, runny noses, difficulty breathing, wheezing, fever, and vomiting.

Doctor Minor credits the increase to the lack of people wearing face masks now compared to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This year we’re seeing older kids getting sicker with it, and we think it’s because of the masks everyone’s been wearing the past two winter seasons. So those children didn’t have RSV as babies, so now they’re sicker as older children.”

With the nationwide shortage of hospital beds and increase of cases, Doctor Minor fears it will get worse before it gets better, as they started to see the uptick in cases less than a month ago.

“There's such a shortage of pediatric beds, not just here and not just in Tennessee but across the nation. So, we’re concerned as the influenza season becomes more active, we’re just concerned about the availability of care.”

Ways Doctor Minor says you can protect your children are by wearing face masks and practicing healthy habits. In Jackson, Sinahi Carrizales, 39 news.