WACO, Texas — Cold and flu season is coming, kids are back in school, but some parents in the Central Texas area are already seeing their kids come home sick perhaps a bit sooner than they'd expect.
Doctors are no strangers to dealing with sick kids, but Express ER Waco Physician Clayton Massey says kids are coming in sick a little earlier than he'd normally expect.
"We're seeing some early cases of RSV, which is typically a late fall, early winter disease sometimes early spring," Massey said. "It's common mostly in the daycare age group of kids, that's where we're seeing more RSV."
The CDC says it's modeling the flu season in Australia very closely, as the flu season in the states typically is very similar. Their season has been the most aggressive it's been since the pandemic, which was expected. Massey says perhaps, this is a sign of things to come in Texas.
As for COVID, strains are going to continue to pop up, and we'll likely see COVID last forever. Massey says COVID is not the worst of concerns for young kids, however.
"There's going to be strains of COVID that are constantly popping up, that's not going away," Massey said. "COVID is going to be here forever. It's another one of the diseases we're gonna have to deal with, hopefully more seasonally than we have been these past few years."
Massey says his team is seeing RSV, but also a lot of injuries as kids go back to playing sports more competitively after possibly not playing all summer.
As far as cold and flu goes, the best way to keep viruses and disease at bay are mostly the same old tricks, with a few new ideas to try.
"People should be careful about if they do have to sneeze or cough they need to cover their mouth with the elbow, it's better to need to use the hand if you use your hand you're gonna end up spreading it all over the place. Try to touch your face as least amount of times as possible," Massey said. "During the day people touch their face constantly and don't realize it. Then of course, washing hands is always something that can help prevent infection and disease spread. It's also a good idea to have kids get undressed after they're out in public and school and change clothes as soon as they get home. It's what we do in the medical field a lot of the time."
Although it is only mid-September, Massey says either way, cold and flu season is inevitable, so it's best to get prepared now rather than be surprised in the coming months.