Flu & RSV: A Quick Guide for Parents
Winter months usually see a spike in respiratory illness throughout Oklahoma for adults and children, and these viruses tend to be worse for the very young and very old. I’m Dr. John Lukeman, I’m a pediatrician with Warren Clinic and in this article, we’ll outline flu and RSV symptoms, vaccines and prevention for children and infants.
Treating and Preventing the Flu
The flu is a virus that typically causes upper respiratory-type symptoms. Most commonly in kids we’ll see fever, headache, sore throat and cough. Sometimes with flu we’ll see vomiting and diarrhea as well.
If your child is showing the above symptoms—especially day 6+ of fever—it's time to see your pediatrician. We will quickly test for flu and other viruses, as there can be overlap of symptoms between different types of viruses.
One of the best ways to prevent the flu is washing your hands. Washing your hands can prevent the spread of a lot of different types of sicknesses and viruses.
Unfortunately, flu can also be spread by respiratory droplets. When we talk, cough or sneeze, we spread droplets into the air, and those droplets stay in the air. I know nobody’s excited about wearing masks these days, but wearing masks can actually prevent the spread of flu.
Masking in public is actually one of the reasons we’ve seen a decrease in flu over the last two-three years.
The Flu Vaccine & Boosters
The flu vaccine is a great preventative measure.
It can sometimes help prevent getting flu but, more than anything—what I really like to stress to my patients—is that the flu vaccine prevents serious illness or death from the flu.
The flu vaccine can be started with infants at 6 months old, so babies 6 months and older can get the flu vaccine. The vaccine can be given at the doctor’s office or many pharmacies.
Sometimes, I’ll have families say, “Well, I don’t want to do the flu shot in my 6-month-old, so maybe next year we’ll do it.” I say, really this is the time you want that flu vaccine because it’s the little babies that I see that are severely ill with flu, and the ones that don’t have the flu vaccine, I can tell. They are just way sicker.
To those who say the flu vaccine “doesn’t work” because they were vaccinated and still got the flu—and I try to say this as kindly as possible—is, “Yeah, you got the flu, but you didn’t die from the flu.” Who knows if something worse would have happened?
The flu shot prevents those serious illnesses that can come along with flu and potentially be fatal. You can also get your COVID-19 booster along with a flu vaccine, I think that was a little bit unclear early on whenever we were giving the COVID vaccine.
Flu vaccine and COVID booster can be given together without any complication.
Identifying and Preventing RSV
“How do I know if it’s Flu or RSV” is a question I get every day in my office. Many times, for children aged two and older, RSV will be a cold.
For the younger patients (aged two and below), their RSV tends to have copious amounts of secretion, so a whole lot of snot. I hear parents say, “I suction it out and five minutes later it’s everywhere again.”
That’s one of those key features of RSV that my colleagues and I look for; If your toddler or baby is so severely, persistently congested that they’re taking these big breaths that move their whole body, get them to see the pediatrician right away.
RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus; it’s somewhat similar to the flu in that it spreads throughout communities and more severely affects the very young and very old.
Most viral infections tend to have a fever for about five days or less, then slow recovery for an additional 5 days.
RSV is usually at its worst for 3-5 days; if your child is getting increasingly sick and not recovering after five days, something else could be wrong. That’s the point you would want to go in and see your pediatrician for a physical exam and potentially an x-ray to rule out bacterial pneumonia.
Preventing RSV
Preventing RSV is just like preventing the flu; wash hands thoroughly and often and wear a mask if you have flu-like symptoms.
RSV is typically seasonal—what people think of as “flu season” during the colder months. COVID-19 has skewed the timing somewhat; we had an RSV season in the summer of 2021 which I’d never seen before.
It’s never a bad idea to ask family and friends to wear a mask around your less-than-six-month-old baby whether they have symptoms or not. This can help prevent flu, RSV and COVID-19 from spreading to the most vulnerable immune systems.
There is an RSV vaccine that exists; it is incredibly expensive and reserved for patients that have serious health conditions. It is not available to the public.
Key Takeaways
- Fever, headache, sore throat, cough, sometimes with vomiting and diarrhea, are flu symptoms and a sign to see your pediatrician
- One of the best ways to prevent the flu and RSV is washing your hands
- Masking prevents the spread of flu and RSV
- The flu vaccine prevents serious complications of flu, not necessarily the flu itself. It is highly recommended as a preventive measure
- Babies 6 months old and older can get a flu vaccine
- Flu vaccine and COVID-19 booster can be administered together
- A key symptom of RSV for babies is severe, persistent congestion that causes trouble breathing
- Wearing a mask around babies under 6 months old—whether you have symptoms or not—is a good practice
- Most viruses should improve after 7-10 days with fever subsiding after day 5; if not, see your pediatrician