Atrium Heath Navicent seeing increase in RSV cases

Doctors at Atrium Health Navicent say they're seeing an increase in cases of RSV.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Doctors at Atrium Health Navicent say they’re seeing an increase in cases of RSV.

Mitch Rodriguez, the Business Development Director for the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital, says cases are increasing across the U.S.

“The number of cases essentially varies from week to week,” he said. “It just basically has been stressing the system, our ER in that respect.”

According to Rodriguez, about 12% of RSV cases are also positive for the flu.

That’s why he’s encouraging families to do get vaccinated.

“Kids less than 6 months of age cannot get vaccinated,” he said. “So vaccination can prevent or reduce the risk of transmission.”

Staff members at early learning centers like Tiny Treasures are familiar with RSV and its impact on children.

According to Keiana Robinson, the center has seen several RSV cases.

“We may see coughing, sneezing, laying around, hard breathing, anything like that,” she said.

Those are just some of the symptoms that come with the virus. It’s why the center has implemented a process for any child showing signs of RSV.

“The process that we do is we mask up the child, isolate the child from the other children and we call their parents,” Robinson said.

The center says it also cleans surfaces and washes hands frequently.

Rodriguez says it’s important to continue taking precautionary measures as the holiday season approaches.

“We want to encourage families to visit and call their pediatricians and basically address with them their concerns,” Rodriguez said.

To further help stop the spread of viruses, Atrium Health Navicent has changed its visitor policy to allow only those only 12 and older.