RSV

RSV (res­pi­ra­to­ry syn­cy­tial virus) is a com­mon virus that caus­es cold-like symp­toms in most peo­ple, but it is the lead­ing cause of hos­pi­tal­iza­tion in U.S. infants. In babies, it can move into the lungs and make breath­ing hard. Most cas­es are mild and treat­ed at home, but watch breath­ing close­ly, since trou­ble breath­ing in a child needs care right away.

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What is RSV?

RSV, short for res­pi­ra­to­ry syn­cy­tial virus, is a very com­mon res­pi­ra­to­ry virus, so com­mon that near­ly all chil­dren have had it by age 2. For most kids and adults it caus­es a cold, but in infants and young chil­dren it can spread into the low­er air­ways and lungs, caus­ing bron­chi­oli­tis (swelling of the small air­ways) or pneu­mo­nia. That is why RSV is the most com­mon rea­son babies in the U.S. are hospitalized.

RSV tends to cir­cu­late in fall and win­ter. Most cas­es are mild, but know­ing how it can progress, espe­cial­ly how a child is breath­ing, helps you act at the right time: 

How RSV looks: 

• Mild RSV Symp­toms (most cas­es): Run­ny nose, cough, con­ges­tion, sneez­ing, mild fever, less appetite, much like a cold 
• More severe RSV symp­toms: Wheez­ing, fast or hard breath­ing, trou­ble feed­ing or drink­ing, unusu­al tired­ness or fussi­ness, espe­cial­ly in infants 

Babies under 6 months, pre­ma­ture infants, and chil­dren with heart or lung con­di­tions are most at risk for severe RSV. It can also be seri­ous for old­er adults and adults with weak­ened immune sys­tems or chron­ic heart or lung dis­ease, more on that below.

What are the symp­toms of RSV?

RSV usu­al­ly starts like a cold and may get worse over the first few days. Com­mon symp­toms include:

• Run­ny or stuffy nose
• Cough
• Sneez­ing and congestion
• Fever
• Less appetite, or in babies, feed­ing less
• Tired­ness or fussiness

In very young infants, RSV can look dif­fer­ent. The main signs may be irri­tabil­i­ty, less activ­i­ty, poor feed­ing, and breath­ing trou­ble, some­times with brief paus­es in breath­ing. Because infants can go from mild to seri­ous quick­ly, keep­ing an eye on breath­ing and feed­ing mat­ters most.

When should I get care for my child?

Most chil­dren with RSV recov­er at home, but some need to be seen, and breath­ing prob­lems can become an emer­gency. How your child is breath­ing and feed­ing is the most impor­tant thing to watch.

Call your pediatrician

Reach out if your child has a high or last­ing fever, is get­ting worse after a few days, is not drink­ing enough or has few­er wet dia­pers, or you are wor­ried. For a young infant with cold symp­toms, it is always rea­son­able to call. 

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Babies under 3 months

Any fever in a baby younger than 3 months needs med­ical atten­tion right away. With RSV symp­toms in a very young infant, call your pedi­a­tri­cian promptly.

Get emer­gency care

Call 911 or go to the near­est ER if your child shows signs of seri­ous breath­ing trou­ble or any of these: 

What caus­es RSV and how does it spread?

RSV is caused by the res­pi­ra­to­ry syn­cy­tial virus, which spreads eas­i­ly through droplets when some­one coughs or sneezes, close con­tact, or by touch­ing sur­faces with the virus on them and then the face. It is most active in fall and win­ter. A child can catch RSV more than once, even in the same sea­son, though repeat infec­tions are usu­al­ly milder.

How is RSV treated?

There is no spe­cif­ic med­i­cine that cures RSV, and antibi­otics do not help because it is a virus. Treat­ment focus­es on com­fort and keep­ing your child hydrat­ed and breath­ing well while their body fights it off. Most chil­dren recov­er in one to two weeks.

Home care for RSV that helps

• Offer flu­ids often to pre­vent dehydration
• Use saline drops and gen­tle suc­tion to clear a stuffy nose, espe­cial­ly before feed­ing and sleep
• A fever-reduc­ing med­i­cine like aceta­minophen or ibupro­fen can ease dis­com­fort (for babies, fol­low the age guid­ance and ask your pediatrician)
• Keep a close eye on breath­ing and feeding

When more care for RSV is needed

Chil­dren with severe RSV may need to be treat­ed in the hos­pi­tal with extra oxy­gen, flu­ids through an IV, or help with breath­ing. This is more like­ly in young infants and chil­dren with oth­er health con­di­tions, and most recov­er well with support.

Can adults get RSV?

While RSV is most dan­ger­ous for infants, it is not only a child­hood ill­ness. In healthy adults it usu­al­ly caus­es a cold, but it can be seri­ous for old­er adults, espe­cial­ly those 60 and old­er, and for adults with weak­ened immune sys­tems or chron­ic heart or lung dis­ease. Adults with severe symp­toms, like trou­ble breath­ing or a wors­en­ing chron­ic con­di­tion, should be seen. Adults can also ask their provider about the RSV vac­cine, which is rec­om­mend­ed for every­one 60 and old­er and for adults 18 – 59 at high­er risk.

Can RSV be prevented?

You can low­er the risk of RSV and pro­tect those most vul­ner­a­ble. 
Every­day steps that can help: 

• Fre­quent handwashing 
• Keep­ing infants away from peo­ple who are sick and from smoke, 
• Not shar­ing cups or uten­sils, and clean­ing sur­faces, espe­cial­ly dur­ing fall and winter. 

There are also pow­er­ful tools to pro­tect babies from severe RSV:

• A long-act­ing anti­body shot for infants (nir­se­vimab or clesrovimab), giv­en dur­ing their first RSV sea­son, which great­ly low­ers the risk of severe RSV
• An RSV vac­cine giv­en dur­ing preg­nan­cy (at 32 to 36 weeks) that pass­es pro­tec­tion to the newborn

Most babies need just one of these, either the mater­nal vac­cine or the infant anti­body, and your pedi­a­tri­cian or OB can help you choose. RSV vac­cines are also avail­able for old­er and high­er-risk adults.

Who treats RSV?

Most RSV is guid­ed by your child’s pedi­a­tri­cian. Duly pedi­a­tri­cians, along with the nurse prac­ti­tion­ers and physi­cian assis­tants on their teams, can con­firm RSV, advise you on home care, watch for warn­ing signs, and decide when more care is need­ed. Imme­di­ate care vis­its help when you need to be seen quick­ly and your pedi­atric team is not available.

Some sit­u­a­tions call for addi­tion­al care:

• Pedi­atrics, for your child’s RSV care, guid­ance, and pre­ven­tion, includ­ing the infant antibody
• The hos­pi­tal or ER, for seri­ous breath­ing trou­ble or dehy­dra­tion, where oxy­gen, flu­ids, and breath­ing sup­port are available

Adults with RSV are cared for by their pri­ma­ry care provider, with pul­monolo­gy for breath­ing com­pli­ca­tions. Your pedi­a­tri­cian or provider coor­di­nates care and refers when spe­cial­ized treat­ment is needed. 

Fre­quent­ly asked questions

How do I know if my child has RSV or just a cold?

At first, RSV can look a lot like a reg­u­lar cold. What makes RSV more con­cern­ing is when it starts affect­ing breath­ing. Watch for signs like wheez­ing, breath­ing faster than usu­al, work­ing hard­er to breathe, or hav­ing trou­ble eat­ing or drink­ing, espe­cial­ly in infants. Test­ing can con­firm RSV, but your child’s breath­ing, feed­ing, and over­all behav­ior are the most impor­tant things to monitor.

When is RSV an emer­gency in a baby?

Breath­ing trou­ble is the key sign. Get emer­gency care if your baby is breath­ing fast or hard, the ribs or bel­ly pull in with each breath, there are paus­es in breath­ing, the lips or skin look bluish or gray, or your baby is very hard to wake or will not feed. Any fever in a baby under 2 months also needs care right away.

Is there a vac­cine or shot to pre­vent RSV in babies?

Yes. There are long-act­ing anti­body shots (nir­se­vimab or clesrovimab) for infants, giv­en dur­ing their first RSV sea­son, that great­ly low­er the risk of severe RSV. There is also an RSV vac­cine giv­en dur­ing preg­nan­cy that pro­tects the new­born. Most babies need just one of these, and your pedi­a­tri­cian or OB can help you decide which is right.

Can adults get RSV?

Yes. In most healthy adults RSV caus­es a cold, but it can be seri­ous for old­er adults, espe­cial­ly those 60 and old­er, and for adults with weak­ened immune sys­tems or chron­ic heart or lung con­di­tions. RSV vac­cines are rec­om­mend­ed for adults 60 and old­er and for adults 18 – 59 at high­er risk. Adults with trou­ble breath­ing should sched­ule an appoint­ment with a health­care provider to be seen.

Where can I get care for RSV in Chicagoland?

Duly Health and Care pedi­a­tri­cians across the Chica­go sub­urbs can eval­u­ate RSV symp­toms, guide home care, and watch for warn­ing signs, and imme­di­ate care for non-emer­gen­cies. For seri­ous breath­ing trou­ble at any age, seek emer­gency care right away. Duly also offers RSV pre­ven­tion, includ­ing the infant anti­bod­ies and adult vaccines.

RSV Care at Duly Health and Care

RSV is some­thing most chil­dren catch, and it often pass­es like a bad cold. When it is more than that, espe­cial­ly in babies, hav­ing trust­ed help close by makes all the dif­fer­ence. Duly pedi­a­tri­cians can tell you what to watch for, see your child quick­ly, and guide care. They can also help pro­tect your baby ahead of RSV sea­son. The imme­di­ate care is also avail­able for care through­out the RSV season. 

With pedi­atric and pri­ma­ry care, plus pul­monolo­gy exper­tise, across the Chica­go sub­urbs, help is easy to reach when your fam­i­ly needs it. 

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Vis­it a Duly Imme­di­ate Care Center

Med­ical­ly reviewed by Alli­son Crouch­er, DO — Last reviewed June 2026