Health

(NEW YORK) — After decades of researching respiratory syncytial virus, an illness especially dangerous for newborns and the elderly, scientists this week announced a major development in plans for a possible vaccine that could be available as soon as next year.

“Among very young children, particularly those [younger] than 6 months of age, we have a high probability now of protecting against serious illness and hospitalization,” Pfizer’s Dr. William Gruber told ABC News.

Gruber is responsible for the company’s vaccine development programs and has been personally working on the RSV vaccine for over 40 years.

Pfizer announced Tuesday that given promising preliminary data on their maternal RSV vaccine for newborns, the Food and Drug Administration granted a green light to stop enrolling new patients in the study. The company said it will move forward with the vaccine approval process.

Pfizer’s traditional protein-based RSV vaccine works by vaccinating a pregnant person, who then passes on some protective antibodies to the infant. The company also said that the same vaccine has also shown promising data in adults 65 and older.

According to data collected from the preliminary studies, Pfizer said, the vaccine was 82% effective at protecting newborns, within the first three months of life, from severe RSV illness. Within six months of an infants’ life, the vaccine effectiveness dropped to 69%.

“To be able to be in a position where we have the potential to provide 80% or more protection against serious disease is a dream fulfilled,” Gruber said.

Pfizer plans to submit the vaccine for official FDA approval by the end of the year and, if greenlit by the FDA and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the maternal RSV vaccine could be available as soon as next year.

Currently, there is no approved RSV vaccine. If Pfizer’s vaccine is approved, it would be the first RSV vaccine given to pregnant people to protect infants. The company said that there were “no safety concerns” for vaccinated pregnant participants and their newborns during the trial.

The news comes as pediatric hospitals across the country are experiencing a rise in the number of patients admitted with RSV. Infections due to RSV have spiked by 69% over the last four weeks and are appearing earlier than usual this year, according to the CDC.

Pediatric bed occupancy in the U.S. has reportedly hit its highest in two years, with 75% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled, according to an ABC News analysis.

RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, and is the most common cause of bronchitis and pneumonia in kids under the age of 1 in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The CDC also states that premature infants and young children with weakened immune systems, congenital heart or chronic lung disease are the most vulnerable to complications from RSV.

Dr. William Linam, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told ABC News last year that parents can help protect their kids from RSV by following the three W’s of the coronavirus pandemic: wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.

“Pretty much all kids have gotten RSV at least once by the time they turn 2, but it’s really younger kids, especially those under 6 months of age, who can really have trouble with RSV and sometimes end up in the hospital,” Linam said at the time.

“If you have a child who has significant underlying health conditions, you probably need to sort of maintain some of those precautions you were following during the worst of the pandemic, like continuing to wear masks more when you’re in enclosed spaces, being diligent about keeping hand sanitizer with you and using it a lot and avoiding crowds,” he added.

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(NEW YORK) — One version of amoxicillin, a common antibiotic used to treat issues like ear infections in kids, is in short supply, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The shortage of amoxicillin means that parents and other caregivers may need to visit multiple pharmacies in order to fill a prescription for liquid amoxicillin or may need to ask their doctor for an alternative medication. Some pharmacies may also be able to adjust the strength of the supply on hand to meet demand.

The FDA lists the oral solution of amoxicillin in its drug shortage database, describing it as “currently in shortage.”

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists also lists amoxicillin in its drug shortages database, noting that multiple different manufacturers of the drug are experiencing shortages.

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic that can be prescribed for bacterial infections.

In addition to ear infections, amoxicillin is commonly prescribed to children for strep, whooping cough and some urinary tract infections.

One manufacturer of the drug, Sandoz, a division of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, told ABC News that what it described as a “supply situation” is the result of a “significant uptake” in demand for amoxicillin.

The increased demand combined with several other factors, including supply chain issues, is leading to the short supply, according to the company.

“The combination in rapid succession of the pandemic impact and consequent demand swings, manufacturing capacity constraints, scarcity of raw materials, and the current energy crisis means we currently face a uniquely difficult situation,” Sandoz said in a statement. “We are working with key stakeholders including governments to find ways to manage this critical situation.”

Amoxicillin is not used to treat COVID-19, RSV or the flu, but the drug’s limited supply comes at a time when many pediatric hospitals across the country say they are reaching capacity due to an early rise in respiratory illnesses.

Last week, pediatric bed occupancy in the U.S. was the highest it’s been in two years with 75% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled with patients, according to an ABC News analysis.

Walgreens told ABC News on Friday the pharmacy chain is “not seeing any constraints around availability of amoxicillin at this time.”

CVS told ABC News it has seen “isolated” shortages of the drug.

“We’ve seen isolated supplier product shortages of certain doses of the medication,” the company said in a statement. “We’re working with manufacturers to replenish supply as quickly as possible.”

ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Eric Strauss, Alicia Zellmer and Emma Egan contributed to this report.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Matthew Perry lays bare his struggle with addiction in his new memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, and told ABC News’ Good Morning America he “can’t wait” for people to read it.

“It’s really exciting that people will read this story and it will hopefully help a lot of people,” the actor said of the memoir, which is out Nov. 1.

In his book, Perry opens up about battling and overcoming years of drug and alcohol abuse. He said he hopes speaking out changes people’s perceptions of those experiencing addiction.

“There’s a stigma attached to it, and that’s got to end,” he said, noting that the disease “doesn’t care where it goes.”

“… Hopefully me telling my story will help that stigma end,” he added.

Perry said the book “just all poured out of me” and called writing it a “gratifying experience,” but one that forced him to look inside.

“It came easily to write it, but then I had to read it for [the audio version], and that was really hard,” he said.

These days, Perry is finding meaning by channeling his past into helping others fight back against addiction as a sponsor.

“What’s interesting about it is I’ve stood on a stage helping 100,000 people at the same time, but I get the same juice, I get the same thing, from helping one person,” he said.

Perry said he hopes his Friends co-stars read his book, revealing that he’s “gotten some really nice texts from a few” of them already.

If you or someone you care about is struggling with addiction, confidential and free help is available at: FindTreatment.gov, the SAMHSA National Helpline at 800-662-4357, or for immediate help in a crisis situation, call or text the national crisis lifeline at 988.

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(NEW YORK) — Flu season is making an early comeback as flu-related hospitalizations are the highest in over a decade for this point in the season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There have been an estimated 880,000 cases of lab-confirmed influenza illnesses, 6,900 hospitalizations and 360 flu-related deaths nationally this season, according to data released on Friday.

Just this past week, there were 2,332 newly-admitted patients in hospitals, over a third of the total 6,900 flu hospitalizations this season already.

H3N2 is the predominant viral strain currently spreading. Previous seasons with mostly H3N2 viruses have been of higher severity, particularly for older adults and young children, the CDC says. It’s still too early to tell if this trend will continue.

The U.S. has not seen this high of a burden since the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic. The national public health agency uses this as a metric to estimate a season’s severity based on laboratory-confirmed cases, doctor visits, hospitalizations and deaths.

Hospitalization rates are highest in adults over the age of 65 and young children, a level consistent with prior flu seasons for older adults, but a relatively new high for children.

This early flu season is additionally concerning with the pediatric surge of respiratory illnesses like RSV already filling up 75% of pediatric beds and surges of activity at the nation’s emergency departments.

“What worries me is the fact that we’re seeing flu [cases] increase. We have a lot of kids admitted right now with RSV…and you layer on a subset of kids who now are going to end up with flu,” said Dr. Melanie Kitagawa, medical director of the pediatric ICU at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Pediatric hospital beds in 9 states and Washington, D.C., are already above 80% capacity, with another five states over 90%, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Experts note that the pediatric surge is something that has been steadily growing over time with an already overtaxed healthcare system.

“This has been kind of a problem that’s been brewing for even several years. We know that hospital beds when it comes to the ability to care for children have decreased especially in our rural communities,” said Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine physician at the Gaza Children’s Hospital in Rochester, New York.

The potential for a COVID-19 surge, which we have not seen yet, could compound the threat.

Currently, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have slightly increased over the past week. There are still nearly 400 deaths from the disease daily.

Experts say that vaccines and therapeutics are available for both the flu and COVID.

“Many doctors will prescribe an antiviral, such as Tamiflu. And that will reduce their likelihood of developing the complications of influenza and help keep them out of the hospital,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Flu vaccination coverage among children and pregnant people has decreased during the past two years. Lower coverage and little flu circulation during the pandemic may have reduced population immunity, especially in young kids, which could lead to more flu illnesses this season, and potentially more severe illness, the CDC says.

The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older and the COVID booster is recommended for anyone over the age of 5. The best time to get your shots is before Halloween – or as soon as possible, health officials say.

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(NEW YORK) — Police officers, firefighters and other protection service employees had the occupation with the highest death rates from COVID-19 in 2020, new federal data shows.

The report, published Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics — a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — looked at COVID mortality during the first year of the pandemic across 46 states and New York City by profession.

The authors only looked at Americans between ages 15 and 64 who were in the paid, civilian workforce, meaning those with unpaid jobs or who serve in the military were not included in the analysis.

Results showed that those with protective service occupations — including police, firefighters, fire inspectors, correctional officers, private detectives, security guards and probation officers — had the highest rate at 60.3 deaths per 100,000 workers.

According to federal data, this is twice as high as the overall workers’ COVID-19 death rate in 2020, which sits at 28.6 per 100,000.

This was followed by food preparation and serving-related staff at 57.5 deaths per 100,000; construction and extraction workers at 57.3 per 100,000; transportation and material moving employees at 56 per 100,000; and farming, fishing and forestry workers at 54.8 per 100,000.

By comparison, Americans working in jobs where they were surrounded by the sickest COVID-19 patients had lower death rates in 2020, the data shows.

Health care support workers — who help doctors and nurses care for patients, perform tests or manage equipment, among other tasks — had a rate of 31.2 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, health care practitioners had a rate of 19.1, below the national average.

The study did not examine why some professions were more at risk of dying than others.

However, the authors noted that many workers with high COVID-19 death rates were “often required to work in person throughout stay-at-home orders in 2020.”

What’s more, these employees were more likely to be working in close proximity to others, both colleagues and the public, increasing their risk of infection.

A report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum, which found COVID-19 to be the leading cause of death for officers in 2020 and 2021, said it was from direct exposure in the line of duty.

“It has been reported to NLEOMF that these officers have died due to direct exposure to the virus during the commission of their official duties,” the report said.

Among those who died is 48-year-old Cedric Dixon, the first uniformed member of the New York Police Department to succumb to COVID-19 in March 2020.

Dixon served the city for 23 years, according to the Detectives’ Endowment Association.

“We are hurting, we are crying, and we continue to fight,” then-Commissioner Dermot Shea said at the time. “He was known as the person who would do anything to help you. He is going to be so sorely missed.”

COVID-19 vaccines weren’t available until the end of December 2020, and they’ve since been shown to be protective against severe illness and death.

However, many police officer and firefighter and unions across the country have pushed back against vaccine mandates, several of whom have been fired for refusing to comply.

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(MIDDLETOWN, Ohio) — An Ohio family is speaking out to share their son’s battle with three different viruses as respiratory infections spike in children across the country, filling up hospital beds.

It all started when the Jackson family, from Middletown — about 35 miles north of Cincinnati — returned from vacation to Walt Disney World the first week of September.

Their 2-year-old son, Wilder, tested positive for flu when they got back. The infection ran its course and he seemed to have recovered.

Wilder, however, started developing fevers again, his parents said. They would give him Motrin and Tylenol to feel better, but the fevers kept coming back, on and off again for about six weeks, they said.

When his fever spiked to 103 degrees on Friday night, the family went to the ER at Cincinnati Children’s but were told “it’s just a virus,” his mother, Ciara, told ABC News.

“They took his temperature twice and then sent us home — because his fever had broken — because we had given them Tylenol,” she continued.

By Sunday night, Wilder’s fever had reached 105, which was followed by fever dreams.

“He started actually hallucinating,” Ciara said. “Thinking he was outside. We were inside on the couch, and he was saying, ‘I want to go inside. I need to get away from the dinosaur.'”

She continued, “He would look at like spots on the ceiling and just start freaking out and crying and he was shaking. It was kind of like the parental instinct — we need to go in.”

That morning, the family took Wilder to Dayton Children’s Hospital, where doctors were puzzled by the fact that he had a recurring fever and no other symptoms.

Doctors ran tests and when they returned, they diagnosed Wilder with rhinovirus, enterovirus and adenovirus — all at the same time.

Although these common childhood viruses are usually mild, they can be more severe when they occur simultaneously.

“They think adenovirus was the virus that was wreaking havoc in him,” Ciara said.

Wilder was transferred from Dayton Children’s ER campus to the center’s main campus in downtown Dayton, where the family received the last bed.

“I asked, ‘Can we switch out the crib for a bed?’ And they said, ‘We are out of beds. Like you took the last one.’ We felt very fortunate that we got in,” Ciara said.

Some children’s hospitals are reporting they are operating at or near capacity due to a spike in respiratory infections among children across the country.

“My cousin who works [at Children Dayton’s] said they’re using pre op rooms for regular hospital rooms because they’re running out of space there,” Ciara said.

A Dayton Children’s spokesperson confirmed to ABC News this is accurate and is part of the hospital’s emergency planning.

Wilder was at the hospital until Wednesday morning, after being fever-free for 24 hours.

And it was only a few weeks ago when his 1-year-old sister Frankie was the one who was sick.

Frankie’s common cold was so bad her parents had to take her to the ER, where she stayed for six hours and received IV fluids.

“She tested negative for RSV, flu and COVID — so hers was really just respiratory, like a really bad cold,” Ciara said, adding that her daughter is doing better now.

On whether they have advice for parents, the Jacksons say trust your parental instincts. And wash your hands.

“Hand washing is a big thing,” Ciara said. “And then I would say to just trust your gut and make sure you’re your child’s advocate and just push for answers.”

Added Wilder’s father: “Follow your gut. You know, you know your kid.”

ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Even though the number of people diagnosed with cancer each year remains roughly the same, recent medical advances mean that more people are surviving, and thriving, after being diagnosed.

A new study published on Thursday in the journal Cancer finds that overall cancer death rates decreased by 2.1% each year from 2015 to 2019, the fastest it has decreased over the last two decades. This continues over a two-decade trend of decreased cancer deaths in the U.S.

Yet, rates of new cancer diagnoses have remained approximately the same from 2014 to 2018, the report said. Among some groups, however, like women and young adults aged 15-39, as well as for certain types of cancers, the rate of new cancer diagnoses has actually increased.

“Improved treatments increase survival and can cure patients, leading to fewer cancer deaths even as more people are being diagnosed,” lead study author, Dr. Kathy Cronin of the National Cancer Institute, told ABC News.

Researchers said more people are surviving after a cancer diagnosis because of earlier detection and improved treatments.

However, some cancers continue to threaten patients at high rates. Those include cancers like female breast, kidney, pancreas, myeloma and others that are closely tied to medical conditions like obesity, diabetes and general inactivity, all of which have continued to rise in the U.S., according to data cited in the study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The decrease in cancer deaths was driven largely by the steep decline in lung cancer deaths, the study said. Far fewer people are smoking today than they did in decades past. Meanwhile, screening and treatments for lung cancer have improved. However, despite the progress, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S, according to the study.

Notable strides have also been made in other cancers including kidney, ovary and liver cancers, the study said. Significant disparities remain, particularly for African American women in uterine cancer and breast cancer. Cancer death is the highest among Black Americans, according to the study. Rates of new cancer diagnoses are highest among American Indian and Alaska Native people.

“We are making progress,” Dr. William Dahut, cancer physician and chief scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, told ABC News.

“This does show that prevention, screening, and better treatment can make a difference, but more work is needed,” Dahut said.

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(NEW YORK) — Some hospitals across the United States say their beds are full as cases of respiratory viruses continue to increase among children.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infections due to respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have spiked by 69% over the last four weeks from 4,667 to 7,917 and are appearing earlier than usual.

At the same time, doctors are preparing for what could be the most severe flu season seen in years after little-to-no flu activity during the pandemic and the potential threat of COVID-19, which has traditionally increased during Thanksgiving over the last two years.

Dr. Anita Patel, attending in pediatric critical care medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said she and her colleagues are seeing a rapidly diminishing number of available pediatric beds.

“We have been operating at essentially near capacity for the past several weeks,” she told ABC News.

Patel said the high number of patients is mainly due to a mix of RSV cases and flu cases, the latter of which are 10 times higher this year compared to last year at her hospital.

“What I can tell you about the flu, which is pretty dramatic compared to last year, is we’ve seen already 80 patients that are positive for the flu across our health system, which is compared to only eight from last year. So, we really are seeing this early flu surge,” she said.

Because of the surge in patients, this has led to between 10 and 20 children at any given point at Children’s National emergency room waiting for a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) bed, although Patel says PICU-level care has been provided to kids who are waiting to be transferred.

Additionally, staff at University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital, in Oakland, say they are currently operating at capacity.

“We are earlier than usual in having a situation where our beds are full,” Dr. April Zaat, a pediatric hospitalist at Benioff Children’s, told local affiliate KGO-TV ABC 7. “I came in this morning and I’m on one of the in-patient teams. My team is full, our respiratory unit is full, and there were five to seven kids in the emergency room waiting for beds.”

Zaat continued, “A lot of them have respiratory illnesses, like rhinovirus, enteroviruses. Sort of a potpourri if you will of respiratory viruses that are causing virus in kids. RSV is the main player.”

Doctors are urging parents to get their children vaccinated, particularly against COVID-19 and the flu, to protect themselves and to help prevent an already strained health care system from becoming overburdened.

“One of the best ways to keep kids and adults out of the hospital is to make sure they’re up to date on their vaccinations,” Patel said. “I’m not just a PICU doctor, I’m also a mom. I made sure that my two-and-a-half-year-old is up to date on not only her COVID vaccination, but she’s also received her flu shot — and that is one of the best ways to prevent severe disease and hospitalization in our children.”

In addition, Patel recommended that parents make sure their children are practicing good hand hygiene and staying home if they are sick. She also suggested families that have high-risk members consider wearing masks when indoors.

“Despite the constant debate about whether they work, the truth is that when masks are mandated viral transmission was very low,” she said. “So, particularly in families where there are high-risk individuals at home, I would not hesitate to ask your children to wear masks if they’re amenable to that.”

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(NEW YORK) — Immunocompromised patients who contract monkeypox can suffer devastating consequences, according to new federal data.

A report, published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at 57 people who were hospitalized with severe cases of the disease between Aug. 10 and Oct. 10.

Almost all the patients had severely weakened immune systems and 82% had HIV.

Just 9% of the HIV patients were receiving antiretroviral therapy — medication that can suppress viral loads — making the virus nearly undetectable and therefore intransmissible.

Over time, HIV can weaken a person’s immune system, which makes it difficult to fight off diseases such as monkeypox, according to the CDC.

Of the remaining immunocompromised patients, 5% were solid organ transplant recipients. Five percent were pregnant and 3% — including one HIV patient — were undergoing chemotherapy.

Because the patients had weakened immune systems, their monkeypox symptoms were also more severe, the CDC said.

All the patients experienced severe rashes while 68% also had severe lesions on various body parts including the face, torso, hands, feet and genitals.

Some patients had damage to other organs, including the eyes, lungs, brain and spinal cord.

The World Health Organization says monkeypox can lead to complications including bacterial lung infections, sepsis, brain inflammation and infection of the cornea.

The report found 30% of patients received ICU care for their symptoms and 21% died. Of the 12 patients who died, monkeypox was a cause of death or contributing factor in five deaths and was not a factor in one death. The other six remain under investigation.

In addition, the report revealed further racial and ethnic disparities. Overall, 68% of patients were Black, highlighting not only the disproportionate effect the monkeypox outbreak has had on minorities but also the disproportionate risk Black Americans have of contracting HIV.

The authors say the report is a “reminder” of the severe consequences some patients can face and that public health officials and clinicians need to work to ensure not only that patients at risk for monkeypox are vaccinated but those with HIV receive treatment.

“Monkeypox and HIV have collided with tragic effects,” said CDC monkeypox incident commander Dr. Jonathan Mermin. “Today’s report reminds all of us that access to monkeypox and HIV prevention and treatment matters — for people’s lives and for public health.”

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(NEW YORK) — As summer ended and the United States headed into the fall and winter, doctors were worried Americans would see a “twindemic” — a situation in which both flu and COVID-19 spread at the same time.

But experts told ABC News the country may now be facing the threat of a “tripledemic” as doctors see an early rise in other pediatric respiratory viruses, particularly respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respiratory illnesses are appearing earlier, and in more people, than in recent years.

The federal health agency says there has also been early increases in flu activity across most of the U.S. with indications that this season could be much more severe than the previous two seasons.

As of Monday afternoon, pediatric bed occupancy in the U.S. is the highest it’s been in two years with 75% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled with patients, according to an ABC News analysis.

COVID-19 infections have not yet begun to spike, CDC data shows. But in prior years, the virus has started to pick up around Thanksgiving.

Experts said a combination of waning immunity to COVID and lack of exposure to other viruses, combined with close gatherings indoors, is fueling a “perfect storm.”

“Mostly the issue is there’s low population immunity and kids are, once again, gathered again, and this is facilitating rapid spread of viruses like RSV,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “And because of the sheer volume of infection, when you have that larger denominator, you have a situation where a portion of those kids are going to require hospital treatment. And because of that, our hospitals are spread thin, not only for bed capacity, but also for critical staffing, of those beds.”

He added, “So the combination of shortages, bed capacity and rising viral illness all make for an unfortunate perfect storm that we’re seeing happen everywhere right now.”

Resurgence of respiratory viruses

Over the last two years, there were more restrictions such as masking, social distancing, capacity limits and school closures. This meant fewer Americans were exposed to other viruses as well, including the flu and RSV.

Now, with few to no mitigation measures in cities and states across the country, this is leading to a resurgence of these viruses.

“That just leaves a lot of children, young children in particular, that have been born since March of 2020 who haven’t yet encountered RSV infections,” Dr. Larry Kociolek, medical director of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, told ABC News. “And so that will increase the ability of the virus to spread and increase the number of children who will get infected.”

According to the CDC, flu test positivity rates have increased from 1.27% for the week ending Sept. 24 to 4.38% for the week ending Oct. 15, higher than usual for this time of year, experts said.

Brownstein said another challenging issue for hospitals is staffing shortages.

“We have already an overworked and overstressed workforce, you have many that have left the health care industry because of burnout,” he said. “And then on top of that, you have infection among health care staff.”

Importance of vaccination

The doctors told ABC News it is vital for children to get vaccinated to prevent severe complications. Children can be hospitalized from any of these infections and those with underlying conditions are at the highest risk.

“If your child has not yet received the influenza vaccine, it is imperative that he or she [gets one] as soon as possible,” Dr. Federico Laham, medical director of pediatric infectious disease at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, told ABC News. “It takes, as we know, a few weeks to mount a response. With some children who, especially after these past two years with very little flu circulation, the immune system gets a little bit lazy and forgetful. So it’s important to ‘remind’ it.”

Laham went on, “The same thing applies to COVID vaccine. Some children developed COVID early on in the pandemic and then didn’t get the vaccine. We know that it works, we know that it’s extremely safe.”

In addition, experts say that parents may consider having their children wear masks and make sure they’re practicing good hand hygiene, washing hands thoroughly with soap and water.

“The other thing that schools can do, and kids can do, is make sure you bring hand sanitizer with you to school so you can clean your hands and wipes to wipe down surfaces,” Dr. Tom Murray, an associate professor of pediatrics in the section of infectious diseases at Yale University School of Medicine, told ABC News. “And again, common touch points, though the wiping down of contaminated surfaces is especially important with viruses like RSV.”

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