Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is raging around the world, from New Zealand to the U.S., where it hit so hard in June 2021 that the CDC issued an emergency alert for parts of the southern United States.

In New Zealand, health officials said there was a lack of RSV cases in 2020 during the pandemic and, while it’s normally a winter disease, it’s now making a comeback off-season in 2021. According to Stuff, “this outbreak was more than twofold greater than the historical average from 2014 to 2019 for this time of year.”

In the U.S., the CDC said in the June health advisory that they were encouraging more testing for RSV among patients who tested negative for COVID-19, but had “acute respiratory illness” symptoms. They also advised health care personnel, child care providers and staff of long-term care facilities not to go to work if they had respiratory symptoms, even if they test negative for COVID.

By August 6, 2021, U.S. health officials reported that RSV had started to taper off by midsummer, but a resurgence is now being seen, with a “record-breaking 563 new RSV cases” reported in the week before August 6.

SOURCES:

Stuff July 21, 2021

CDC June 10, 2021

Clinical Trials Arena August 6, 2021