WTOP The holiday season comes with more parties, family gatherings and, thanks to cold temperatures, more time spent indoors. While coming together for festive fun can provide Christmas cheer, it can also provide the perfect conditions for viruses to spread.
“Each year around this time, especially as the holiday season starts to pick up, we start to see more of all the other respiratory viruses that are kind of lurking in the community,” said Dr. Katherine Cox-Flaherty, a pulmonologist with Inova in Virginia.
There has been a lot of talk about a spike in cases of the flu, COVID-19 and even walking pneumonia, but other illnesses are also sending people to their doctors. Among them, according to Cox-Flaherty, is RSV — a respiratory illness much like those caused by the rhinovirus and enterovirus.