MIDLAND, Texas — According to the Midland Community Health Services Pediatric Clinic, RSV cases amongst children have been spiking up in Midland.
"In regards to RSV, [...] it's not every child that comes in with cough, congestion and fever that has RSV," said Dr. Mark Clee, Medical Director at the MCHS Pediatric Clinic. "But there definitely has been an uptick over the last month or so, compared to kind of what we were seeing in the summer as far as RSV. And it does tend to hit the younger kids a little more than the older kids."
Dr. Clee also says that the spike isn't anything out of the ordinary and in fact is starting to resemble the normal levels this time of year from before COVID.
If your child gets sick, at a glance it can be hard to tell what exactly your child has because things like RSV, flu and the cold all have similar symptoms but there are ways you can find out.
“So it’s difficult to say exactly which one they have until we do certain tests," Dr. Clee continued. "So in our clinic we can test for RSV, flu and COVID which are all viruses that cause cough and cold symptoms.”
Dr. Clee says that if your child is less than one year old then it can be more obvious to tell if they have something like RSV.
“Those signs that are the serious signs to watch out for are what we call lower respiratory tract signs," Dr. Clee added. "So lower respiratory tract signs would be trouble breathing such as, you might see them working really hard to breath so their chest going in and out really fast. You might see them kind of pulling in kind of in this area, this skin going back and forth and then kind of the same thing under the ribs. Those are the big things you’re watching out for with those diseases, just signs of increased work of breathing.”
If your child shows any of these symptoms, it’s recommended immediately to contact your pediatrician.
Dr. Clee also recommends that during this time of year parents should help their kids make sure to do things like wash their hands and not constantly touch their face, as well as try to keep them away from any friends or family members that may be sick.