Dr. Lesho of Rochester Regional Health explains what signs of RSV parents should look for

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Local health leaders are speaking out about a rise in respiratory illness among children.

Children’s hospitals both locally and nationally are seeing a rise in pediatric admissions. We spoke with Dr. Emil Lesho, an infectious disease specialist from Rochester Regional Health.

He shared what signs of RSV parents should look out for.

“What pediatricians look for is what’s called work of breathing when they’re assessing a child to determine if that child needs to be admitted to the hospital,” Lesho said. “And what that means is maybe you see the nostrils flaring or the muscles between the ribs, you know the skin between the ribs being sucked in and out or the child using kind of their belly muscles more and more to breathe.”

If it looks like your child is having a harder time breathing with those signs, Dr. Lesho says take them to the ER or urgent care. They may need to be hospitalized.

He also says it’s welcome news that drug companies are working on RSV vaccines.