(WSIL) -- Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, is a virus many parents are probably familiar with, since nearly 2.1 million children annually seek medical attention from the symptoms.
"We don't really see adults who get RSV typically, because most of us, by the time we hit 10 years old are immune to it from having been exposed to it or having had it before," said family physician Dr. Jeff Ripperda.
RSV typically follows the flu season, but it can be a difficult virus to track because it's symptoms are almost identical to COVID-19.
The new patterns of the virus, began to concern Ripperda in 2020.
"In the midst of all the COVID lock downs, there just wasn't any RSV circulating. It was the first time in my career that I hadn't diagnosed anyone throughout the entire winter," said Ripperda.
According to the CDC, doctors across the country saw less than 1% positivity rating for the virus in the 2020 RSV season.
The strange behavior of the virus didn't stop there, because Ripperda began diagnosing for RSV in the summer of 2021, and some of the people who contracted the virus, were adults.
"It's showing up in adults and that is just a very strange phenomenon," said Ripperda.
Ripperda believes procedures put in place to curb COVID may have helped curb RSV, but he is curious how the current patterns of the virus will change after the rest of the season.
"The fact that RSV is happening in late summer or early fall, it just doesn't happen. It would almost be like roses starting to bloom during a snow storm in the middle of December. It's a normal thing to see at a certain time of year and a very abnormal thing to see at a different time of year," said Ripperda.
