BUFFALO, N.Y. — The New York State Health Department is encouraging people to get the RSV vaccine, if they're able to, as it sees an increase in cases across the state.
"RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus. It's a virus that primarily affects young children and senior citizens," said Bryon Backenson, the director of communicable disease control at the New York State Department of Health.
On Wednesday, the New York State Department of Health posted a chart on social media saying RSV cases are outpacing both flu and COVID cases this fall.
"Things really seem like they're starting to take off now, and we expect that we'll see a big rise in RSV cases over the next few weeks right before the holidays start," Backenson said.
RSV spreads through droplets in the air just like the flu and COVID, and the prevention is the same as the flu and COVID. The public health director for the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments says the number of RSV cases in those counties is up this year compared to last.
"We are really pushing the messages across Western New York to stay home if you're sick. That's one of the best defenses that we can really encourage people to do whether again it's RSV, COVID, flu, any of the other illnesses," said Paul Pettit, public health director for the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.
But Pettit says it's hard to know how many people have gotten sick because it's not a reportable disease, so the health departments don't have an exact case count. They do track RSV using wastewater samples, and that's how they can tell cases are up.
And with the flu, COVID, and RSV all out there, the NYSDOH is encouraging people to get vaccinated.
"We always talk about, you know, the holiday season, the winter when we're always spending time indoors, and all these respiratory illnesses can, you know, make our lives sort of miserable and now we have really good ways to prevent that for all three of these diseases," Backenson.
People 60 and older can get the RSV vaccine and it's a relatively new vaccine, so people might not know about it yet. Pregnant women and babies can also get vaccinated. The RSV vaccine can also make your case less severe if you do get sick.