CDC warns of respiratory virus affecting kids and adults

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to alert you about a respiratory infection that can affect your children and even some adults.

As it gets colder, parents should make sure their children add on the layers and bundle up so they don't get sick, but the CDC is warning parents to watch out for Respiratory Syncytial Virus or 'RSV.'

RSV can start out as looking like a common cold. It is a respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms and most people recover in a week or two.

But RSV can also be serious, especially for infants and older adults. In fact, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs) in children younger than 1 year of age in the United States.

It is also a significant cause of respiratory illness in older adults.

Right now, the CDC says there is not a vaccine available to treat RSV. There is a medicine that can help protect some babies. This medicine (called palivizumab) is a series of monthly shots.

Know the Symptoms:

Help Prevent the Spread of RSV:

For more information on RSV, please click here.