RSV infections are surging months earlier than normal

RSV infections typically occur in the late fall, winter and early spring, the CDC explains.

"But last year, during all of the COVID-19 outbreaks and all of our social restriction measures, we did not see RSV the way we normally see it," Dr. Pia Pannaraj, an infectious diseases specialist at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles told NPR.

That meant infants and young children who would have gotten it last year, didn't. Now, as many states have lifted mask mandates and other restrictions, Pannaraj says, doctors are starting to see a resurgence of the virus.

In Texas, the spike began in the final week of June.

"This is definitely earlier than normal," she said.

The absence of widespread RSV last season means that "babies up until about a year and a half or two years of life are at risk," Pannaraj explained, saying that parents and doctors will have to be extra vigilant for symptoms, including coughing, lack of appetite, and excessive sleeping and lethargy. They can also suddenly stop breathing.