Sharp rise in RSV infections

Sharp rise in RSV infections among children has experts warning parents not to relax COVID-19 social distancing measures.

Australians are suffering from flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, at their highest level since social distancing measures took effect earlier this year, according to monitoring survey FluTracking.

The levels of these symptoms across the whole population are still lower than in previous years, but there has been a sharp rise since mid-October.

At the same time, children are presenting to emergency departments with respiratory conditions in higher numbers than the average peak over the past five years, with very high levels of pneumonia and bronchiolitis.

The situation has researchers concerned the public may be relaxing behaviour around infection control and that could mean any potential COVID-19 outbreak may spread.

Click here to read the full article.

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-06/sharp-rise-in-rsv-infections-among-children-covid-19-risk/12945930 , viewed December 8, 2020.