CINCINNATI — Data from the CDC shows Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, cases are up this year in Ohio.

It’s a virus that is common in young children, but could become deadly. 

It was her two-month-old's constant cough that became a cause for concern for Cynthia Layton. She’s a mother with whom Spectrum News 1 So-Cal spoke just last week. She said coughing wasn’t the only symptom her two-month-old daughter had. 

“We noticed that she was coughing a lot and had a really runny nose,” said Layton. After a doctor's visit, a test confirmed her child had RSV.

RSV is a common respiratory virus. It’s something Dr. Felicia Scaggs Huang of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital said is common during the winter months. 

“You would see just a few cases here and there in October,” said Scaggs Huang. “Now we are seeing more of those cases than we would typically see from a pre-pandemic perspective.”

As a mother of small children herself, Scaggs Huang said she knows just how important it is to keep her children protected from the virus. That’s because it’s common among children. But the symptoms can vary. 

“For a lot of older children it just causes a cold,” she said. “But in children less than six months have compromised immune systems or underlying medical conditions it can cause inflammation of the lungs called bronchiolitis or pneumonia.”

To avoid getting the virus, Dr. Scaggs Huang recommends that parents make sure to wash their hands often and avoid people who are sick. There’s currently no vaccine or medication for the public to take if they get it. So if your child contracts it, she says supportive care is important. 

“A lot of children with RSV have more secretions, so helping suction them and sometimes kids with RSV don’t feel like eating or drinking very much,” she said. “So they might need fluids through a peripheral IV to help keep them from getting too dehydrated. 

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is currently working on an RSV vaccine.