ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases peaked earlier this month in the state of Georgia and across the nation, but experts ask people to remain vigilant in preventing its spread.

RSV is a respiratory infection, most common in young children and newborns. Most cases are mild with cold-like symptoms. Some cases are more severe. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports over 50,000 annual hospitalizations in newborns and young children in the U.S. Most children get the virus in their first year of life.

Because of its prevalence and ability to hospitalize your child, experts like Dr. Kayla Suma, with Phoebe Family Medicine, recommend getting vaccinated and taking extra precautions with newborns.

She says, “Everyone is so thrilled to meet a new baby in a family. It is important to maybe look, and not necessarily touch, in those early vulnerable periods.”

Parents have two options when it comes to vaccinations.

1. Expecting mothers between their 32nd and 36th week of pregnancy can be vaccinated. The vaccine is passed onto the child at birth, giving them more resistance to the virus.
2. Babies that are at least one week old and are born between the moths of October and March are eligible for vaccination. These are the months when the virus is most likely to be contracted.

Aside from vaccinations, there are other options to give your child the best chance of fighting off RSV and other viruses.

Dr. Suma tells WALB, “One of the best things you can do for your child is breastfeed at least for the first 12 months of life because it can give them a lot of protection.”

Unlike the flu and COVID, RSV does not generally cause the person to be nauseous or vomit. Symptoms in children appear as mild, cold-like symptoms, in the form of a runny nose, congestion, decrease in appetite, coughing, fever, and sneezing according to the CDC.

Parents like Ty Grant tell WALB that the virus is hard to fight against.

“It’s very hard, this is my daughter’s second time having RSV. I just cried you can do so much to prevent these things, keeping her bundled up, keeping medicine, daily breathing treatments and it could just happen any time.”

Grant says that her daughter is vaccinated, but she still got sick with the virus. However, Grant believes the vaccine helped minimize the negative effects of the virus.

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