A warning has been issued to parents across the UK after a rise in the number of young children in hospital with a potentially deadly disease. Cases of Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have risen sharply, and hospitalisations have also soared.
RSV usually has cold-like symptoms and normally accounts for 20,000 hospital admissions in under-ones in the UK. But infections increased by 8.3 per cent in the week ending October 30 as experts fear some young children may not have built up any immunity to bugs like RSV and flu, reports The Mirror.
“Children aged two to three may have little natural immunity and can become severely ill," said consultant epidemiologist Dr Conall Watson. “That is why we are urging parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible. It is also important that schoolchildren get vaccinated as it not only protects them but also reduces the spread of flu."
