PHILADELPHIA -- Pandemic prevention practices such as masking and social distancing have upended expectations for the arrival of “sick season,” the traditional wave of colds, flu, and other respiratory illnesses that rise as temperatures fall, doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said Wednesday.
CHOP, for example, saw an unusual springtime spike this year in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known commonly as RSV, which in very young children can raise concerns about bronchitis and pneumonia. This was preceded by atypically low levels of RSV last fall and winter. Now RSV cases are increasing again, CHOP’s experts said, this time with more severe cases of the disease.
The hospital system believes an explanation lies in measures taken to limit the spread of coronavirus, said physician Ron Keren, CHOP’s chief medical officer.
