we've hit the peak of the season for a major respiratory virus-- that at its worst can be deadly. confirmed cases of the illness are up from last year. kayla anderson has more on what the virus is-- and what you need to be on the lookout for. doctor john ogren spends his days listening to little lungs... and checking tiny ears. right now the biggest thing on his radar is r-s-v. "the other day both unm and presbyterian basically had no beds, because the majority of beds were being taken up by young children with respiratory syncytial virus." at the children's urgent care we found a crowd of parents waiting-- before the center even opened. "she was not a very happy camper." this mom has two sick kids. she knows how bad r-s-v is this year and that's got her worried. "what is it, one out of two kids that are getting it? and i have one in school, so yeah it does, cause they're at home but my son does go to school. and germs, well, it's hard to keep in control with three kids." 125-million kids get rsv every year. starts as a bad cold but can get much worse-- and settle in the lungs-- if left untreated. "if you can't breathe, you can't eat. and it also causes symptoms such as cough, runny nose. and as a complication they can develop ear infections, pneumonia and even sometimes respiratory failure." rsv can be fatal-- especially for at risk kids. so parents need to look out for three key signs. "is the child drinking okay? is the child breathing okay? is the child sleeping okay?" doctor ogren says you should head to the doctor if treating your child's symptoms, like you would the common cold, doesn't work. that could mean the virus is already settling in their lungs.
