CHESAPEAKE, Va. — This year, season's greetings will be met with seasonal colds and the flu according to health professionals.
Doctors at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters say their urgent cares, emergency department and main hospitals are treating a lot of young children.
Some doctors believe the height of COVID-19 sheltered babies and young children from common illnesses.
"It's because they're usually transmitted by respiratory droplets similar to COVID, and so by isolation and hand hygiene and mask wearing, we slowed those down and we didn't get exposed to them," said Dr. Ryan Light with Tidewater Medical Center.
Health professionals like Light say that it can be difficult to determine what virus a child has upon first glance.
"Children sometimes don't present with the same symptoms as adults do where you can really differentiate because they just don't feel well. When we look at them, you have to do a flu swab and you have to do the RSV swab and then sometimes we even do the COVID swabs," said Light.
After a couple days, doctors say that it can become clearer to parents.
"The flu usually comes on really strong very quickly so that's one way to tell the difference between the common cold. Common cold kind of lingers for 3-4 days and then gets better. You get the cough cold symptom but it's a little more severe than the common cold. You may have that high fever," said Light.
Health professionals say that most children can be safely treated at home and don’t need to be tested to determine which virus is causing cold-like symptoms.
A few examples of when to see a doctor include if your child has pauses or difficulty breathing, or a fever that rises above 104 repeatedly. More information can be found by clicking the link below.
RSV, other Viruses on the Rise at CHKD – When to Seek Medical Attention | CHKD Blog
