Health care officials prepare as RSV, influenza cases increase in Minnesota

[MPR News, November 08, 2022] Hospitalizations due to RSV cases are continuing to climb in the Twin Cities, mainly among children younger than one. The most recent state report reflects what doctors are seeing across the country, and raising concerns about how health care systems will manage this spike in infections amid flu season, and a potential COVID-19 surge. 

RSV — or respiratory syncytial virus — often presents like a mild cold, with symptoms that often include a runny nose, fever, coughing and sneezing. It can be severe, especially for young kids.

“The particular gift of RSV is to get down into the lower respiratory tract — it does that much better than any cold virus — and then spread throughout your body,” said Dr. Frank Rhame, infectious diseases physician at Allina Health. “When you're under 6 months, the tubules [in their lungs] are small. So if they get edematous — if they swell — it's hard for those babes to move air.”