Doctors urge preparation ahead of flu, RSV season

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- It may still be pretty warm in central Ohio, but cold temperatures are on the way and flu season typically comes right along with them.

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said the state is not seeing many active flu, RSV or COVID cases right now, but he said it’s just a matter of time before flu season ramps up.

“It’s guaranteed that in the coming weeks, we are going to see these three viruses become more prominent because that happens every single year,” Vanderhoff said.

He said Ohioans should start thinking about and preparing for flu season, especially parents. Dr. Jason Newland, a pediatric disease doctor at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, said RSV and the flu can be extremely harmful to kids.

“RSV will show up in kind of the middle of October, early November,” Newland said. “I think both RSV and influenza are scary. Influenza scares me as a pediatric infectious diseases doctor, and I can't tell you exactly when it's going to come.”

Both doctors said vaccines and immunizations are the best way to prevent the flu and RSV.

“That has been shown to be very protective, especially in ending up in the ICU and in the hospital, and frankly, all of us in the hospital would rather you not have to come,” Newland said.

“We’re very confident in the safety of those vaccines,” Vanderhoff said. “They have long track records.”

The doctors recommend that anyone six months and older get a flu shot in the coming weeks and months.

With RSV, Newland said babies are the most vulnerable. Pregnant moms can get a maternal RSV vaccine to protect their babies, or infants can get an immunization against the virus in their first few months.

“The maternal vaccine is safe,” Newland said. “We haven't seen any safety things that made us pull back. We get more people, we are going to hopefully get rid of RSV as being one of our major wintertime viruses that really harms a lot of children.”

Besides getting the recommended shots, both doctors said proper hand washing and cough etiquette are great ways to prevent the flu, RSV and COVID.