AU doctor offers reassurance to parents about RSV
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - RSV and flu cases have been at an alarming number in both Georgia and South Carolina this fall.
Some experts worry that numbers will go up even more during the holidays as people gather with friends and family.
But one doctor at Augusta University Health says with the virus spiking so soon, he expects cases to go down.
“So far this season, we were the first hot spot in the country,” said Dr. James Wilde. “So we’re getting RSV and flu, I hope, out of the way earlier. And what I hope to see is that during the holiday seasons, particularly the Christmas season, we have less flu and less RSV than we do right now.”
While parents may be concerned about how severe the virus can be, Wilde says in most cases, your children can stay home and let the virus run its course without being itted to the hospital.
But that’s not always the case for infants.
“If there is wheezing from a respiratory virus in especially a very young child less than a year and particularly less than 6 months, those children should be seen by their doctor or come to an ER or someplace to be evaluated because it can cause problems for the very young babies. And we want to identify that early, if we can,” Wilde said.
As we come up on the holidays doctors urge you to keep an eye on symptoms if you or your child have them.
“The person who has the fever has to have at least a little bit of concern for the people around them,” Wilde said. “And stay away. Don’t go to work. Don’t go to school if you have a fever.”
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