As temperatures cool down, at least one respiratory virus is ramping up activity. Nationally and locally, the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, is showing more signs of activity.
In Orange County, the virus was found in high concentrations within county wastewater throughout November, according to wastewater treatment plants. The Florida Department of Health also noted a 10% increase in emergency department visits regarding RSV for children 5 years old and younger in Central Florida.
While cases have gone up, vaccine levels have not.
Vaccination rates in various risk groups are low. For adults 75 years and older, vaccination rates topped at just 41%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other risk groups showing low signs of vaccine levels include 32% of pregnant mothers and 30% of infants.
“There's a recommendation for them to get vaccinated if they're going to be delivering during RSV season, to try to protect that infant from getting sick,” said Dr. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist from the University of Central Florida.
Vaccine levels of all types are down across the board, Prins said. That’s not unexpected. Rates of vaccination tend to drop years after a vaccine is introduced and the disease is no longer of great public concern.
However, the current dip in vaccine use seems to be different.
“The confidence lag because of misinformation and disinformation, and that's different than it lagging because [people think that] I don't see that disease anymore, so I don't feel like the vaccine is that important,” she said.
RSV could peak in December if it hasn’t already, but RSV season tends to linger longer in Florida than it does in most parts of the country due to the warmer climate, and the peak of the season usually occurs at the tail-end of the year.
COVID-19 and flu are also expected to peak between December and February. Vaccine levels are also low for those two viruses as well.
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