CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory: Increased Interseasonal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Activity in Parts of the Southern United States

CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory: Increased Interseasonal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Activity in Parts of the Southern United States

CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory: Increased Interseasonal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Activity in Parts of the Southern United States

CDC is issuing this health advisory to notify clinicians and caregivers about increased interseasonal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity across parts of the Southern United States. Due to this increased activity, CDC encourages broader testing for RSV among patients presenting with acute respiratory illness who test negative for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

 

RSV can be associated with severe disease in young children and older adults. This health advisory also serves as a reminder to healthcare personnel, childcare providers, and staff of long-term care facilities to avoid reporting to work while acutely ill – even if they test negative for SARS-CoV-2.

 

Recommendations

 

  1. Clinicians and caregivers should be aware of the typical clinical presentation of RSV for different age groups.
  2. Clinicians should consider testing patients with a negative SARS-CoV-2 test and acute respiratory illness or the age-specific symptoms presented above for non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory pathogens, such as RSV. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) is the preferred method for testing for respiratory viruses.
  3. Clinicians should report laboratory-confirmed RSV cases and suspected clusters of severe respiratory illness to local and state health departments according to their routine reporting requirements.
  4. Healthcare personnel, childcare providers, and staff of long-term care facilities should avoid reporting to work while acutely ill – even if they test negative for SARS-CoV-2.
  5. Clinicians can review weekly updates to the NREVSS website and refer to surveillance data collected by local hospitals and health departments for information on RSV circulation trends in their area.

 

For more information, please visit: HAN Archive - 00443 | Health Alert Network (HAN) (cdc.gov)

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