Common cold virus spreading across the globe
New York/ New Jersey – Masks, social distancing and staying home didn’t just protect people from COVID — it also protected people from colds.
A common cold virus (RSV) is spreading across the globe. The spread is causing an unusual wave of late spring disease, according to the CDC.
The CDC wants doctors and other health care providers to be on alert for the virus because it can cause pneumonia, especially in very small children and babies.
Because of the increase in cases the CDC is encouraging broader testing for RSV among patients who have acute respiratory illness and have tested negative for COVID.
Beaumont Dr. Richard Weiermiller sees children and adults at his Royal Oak practice.
“In the last month really, you’re starting to see some illnesses kind of coming into the picture again,” Weiermiller said. “We’ve taken our masks off. We’re in closer contact with people who aren’t part of our bubble. And, yeah, colds are starting to emerge again.”
RSV is more common in the fall and winter, but cases fell dramatically during the pandemic. Now it’s spreading fast in the south. Spread has been seen in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, New York and New Jersey and Texas.
In most years, RSV is common from September to May. There is no specific treatment for the virus. The CDC is still recommending that people with cold symptoms get a COVID test to be certain.
Vitamin C has long been touted as a cold-and-flu fighter, especially if you are deficient in it. For the rest of us, vitamin C isn’t a magic bullet, but it doesn’t cost much and cold-prevention trials seem to suggest some benefit, says integrative-medicine specialist Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., fellowship director for the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine in La Jolla, California. If you can’t get it from your diet, she recommends 200mg of vitamin C twice a day for adults during cold-and-flu season; ask your pediatrician for the right dose for your kids.
