CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Doctors in our area are treating patients with RSV ahead of peak-season for the virus.
Doctors most often treat patients with RSV beginning at the end of December through February. However, one hospitalist at Conway Medical Center says they are seeing cases already and two children were admitted last week.
Infants under one-year-old and adults older than 65 face the highest risk of developing RSV.
News13 asked Amanda Bruce, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Conway Medical Center, what symptoms parents of infants should watch for.
“How much effort it takes to breathe so if they have what we call retractions where the skin sucks in and around the rib cages,” Bruce said. “If they’re breathing really fast or have any blue-ish discoloration in their fingertips or around their lips, anything like that. Or if they just become kinda listless where they are not waking up to eat.”
While things like hand washing help keep illness away, Bruce says one major way to keep your child healthy this RSV season is avoiding crowded places as much as possible.
“Avoiding going to the malls and you know the movie theaters and grocery stores and places like that,” Bruce said. “People who come over shouldn’t be sick and anybody who holds the baby needs to wash their hands.”
Right now, there is no RSV vaccination, but the CDC reports there is one medication doctors can give infants who are at the highest risk for developing the virus.
