Experts Anticipate ‘Closer to Normal’ RSV Season in US

Experts expect the upcoming respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season in the United States to be much more typical than it was last fall, CNN reports.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults.

During the 2021–2022 RSV season, after historically low numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, cases started to appear in May, nearly 21 weeks earlier than usual. During the 2022–2023 season, it again started earlier, this time in June. Children who normally would have received immunity in earlier years did not, most likely because of the COVID-19 health mandates, causing an unprecedented surge in RSV hospitalizations that November.

For the upcoming RSV season, scientists, who have also been keeping an eye on the virus in the Southern Hemisphere as an indicator of what to expect in the United States, foresee a return to pre-pandemic timeframe and cases.

“It seems like we are going to have RSV during the RSV season, which has been difficult to say over the last few years,” Dr. Daniel Weinberger, an associate professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, told CNN. Weinberger anticipates a “closer to normal” RSV season, replicating pre-pandemic timing and intensity.

CNN also reports that this season, for the first time, vaccines for older adults and a preventive for infants are available.

“[The vaccines] have the potential to be hugely impactful,” Weinberger told CNN. “If people use these interventions, they could really make a big dent.”

According to the CDC, each year, RSV infection results in 58,000–80,000 hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years old, with 100–300 deaths. In adults 65 years and older, RSV is responsible for 60,000–160,000 hospitalizations and 6,000-10,000 deaths every year.