RSV and flu cases are on the rise among children and Dr. Brannon Perilloux, a pediatrician at Ochsner Health Center for Children in Baton Rouge said when you should seek medical care depends on how your child is reacting. For example, if they have a significantly high fever or they feel really bad, and Tylenol isn’t helping bring them in.
“And by all means, if we’re having any difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, that sort of thing, that is a definite reason to get in touch with your pediatrician,” said Perilloux.
But if they are behaving as normal you don’t need to treat it.
There’s no vaccine for RSV but there is for the flu, so Perilloux encourages anyone six months or older to get their flu shot. In 2020 he said they didn’t see hardly any flu cases and RSV cases decreased dramatically but since COVID restrictions eased both are making a comeback.
“This year we’re kind of back to our normal seasonal attack of RSV and flu in the late fall as soon as the first cold front comes through,” said Perilloux.
In addition to a drop in temps, Perilloux said the biggest spreader by far of RSV and the flu is among daycares, preschools, and schools themselves.
“And that’s what we’re seeing right now. Some schools it’s already been through everyone in the school, and we’ve got other schools that it’s just starting and everybody’s probably going to get it,” said Perilloux.
The symptoms of both the flu and RSV are the same, runny nose, cough, congestion, and fever. The only way to determine is by taking a nasal swab test.
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