RSV: What Every Parent Needs To Hear from Health First Physicians

November 04, 2022

AS CASES OF RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS (RSV) spike nationwide, Emergency Medicine Physician Larissa Dudley, MD, and Health First Pediatrician Sheila McLeod, MD, want parents to know that most cases are mild, but parents of newborns, especially, should watch for signs of unusual breathing, such as labored or fast-and-short breaths.

The Pediatric Emergency Department at Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center is seeing a surge of RSV cases in very young patients. That should be alarming for anybody.

That doesn’t mean every pediatric case of RSV should end up here, says health system physicians.

“If you’re concerned about respiratory distress, always come to the ER,” says Dr. Larissa Dudley, an Emergency Medicine Physician.

“If it’s mild – runny nose, nasal congestion, a cough that is not causing respiratory distress – then going to a pediatrician is completely reasonable.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly all American children have an RSV infection by the time they reach 24 months. The vast majority experience cold-like symptoms before recovering. But it is the No. 1 cause of bronchiolitis (an inflammation of the lower airways).

“That’s what we worry about with these viruses,” says Health First Pediatrician Sheila McLeod, MD. “The first couple days they have typical cold symptoms, but usually around Day 3 they get worse. That’s when they may develop these signs of difficulty breathing. That’s when they need to go to their doctor or to the ER.”

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