The respiratory illness RSV is still going strong in Chicago — an unusually late showing for the virus, which can strike infants especially hard. [Chicago Tribune]

Canva image

RSV activity has moved from moderate to high in Chicago, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Though it’s typical for RSV to spread more widely in the winter — along with illnesses like the flu and COVID-19 — it’s often more prevalent earlier in the season.

RSV activity in Chicago is still not as high as it was at its peaks in recent years, but it’s stubbornly elevated for this time of year. 

“This is not the typical pattern we see,” said Dr. Larry Kociolek, an attending physician of pediatric infectious disease at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “We’re not seeing a ton of it, we just keep seeing it for a prolonged period, and now that we’re heading into spring, it seems a bit more unusual.”

RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus, can cause a runny nose, coughing and fever, and in most people is mild and resolves within a week or two. But the illness can be more severe in babies and young children, causing pneumonia and inflammation of the small airways in the lung. 

Each year, about 2% to 3% of babies younger than 3 months old are hospitalized with RSV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

So far, two children with RSV have died this season in Chicago, according to the city health department. 

For the week that ended March 7, emergency department visits by babies and children up to 4 years old for RSV in Chicago were more than three times higher than during the same week last year, according to the city health department.

More> 

###