ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A pediatric emergency medicine physician said she is seeing an increase in respiratory viruses.
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital saw 235 cases in November of Influenza Type A and four cases of Type B. The previous month the hospital saw 61 cases of Influenza Type A.
"We need to see kids in the emergency department if they’re having difficulty breathing, breathing fast, if they’re having retractions or using extra muscles to breathe if the chest is sucking in or if there’s any change in their mental status. We need to see them," said Dr. Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
The pediatric hospital saw 122 cases of RSV in November.
According to the CDC, symptoms of RSV include runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever, difficulty breathing, and wheezing. These symptoms usually appear in stages and not all at once. In very young infants with RSV, the only symptoms may be irritability, decreased activity, and breathing difficulties.
ABC Action News spoke to a Florida mother who said her 4-week-old-son contracted RSV. She believes her child caught the virus from his older brother, who attends preschool. Her son fully recovered from the virus in about 3 weeks. She took her child to the pediatrician and to the emergency room for care.
"We do tend to see something called bronchiolitis with RSV, which is wheezing, and something called retraction where the chest is sucking in when they’re trying to breathe. If patients have retractions or shortness of breath, we need to see them," added Dr. Martin.
Dr. Martin said children six months and older can receive a COVID-19 and flu vaccination.
"The youngest you can get a flu shot is six months, and the first year, you do need two shots, but after that, just one shot. It does really impact how severe the illness is and the risk of hospitalization or other severe consequences from it...getting vaccinated is really important for the flu and COVID," said Dr. Martin.
