BUFFALO, N.Y. — Some pediatricians are seeing an uptick of kids coming in with viral illnesses — even as simple as the common cold.
"It is striking for a lot of people, because they went through a whole year without getting sick very much and now their kids and their families are getting sick," said Dr. Rachel Kaufman.
The increase in colds comes after a fall and winter season where they happened less than normal — think masks, social distancing, and many school kids learning from home.
"The same techniques that we were using to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were also pretty effective at preventing the spread of common colds, and even more effective at preventing the spread of the flu," she said.
Now that many restrictions have been lifted and people are getting back to normal, that means more chance for those viruses to spread.
"It's just that it's happening sort of on a broader scale because kids have been not socializing, not congregating and now they're starting to socialize and congregate again and so the colds are increasing," Kaufman said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued an advisory for some southern states about a rise in cases of another respiratory illness called RSV, which has similar symptoms to COVID-19.
Dr. Joseph Chow of Western New York Immediate Care says while that hasn't been a big problem here right now, it is something medical experts are keeping an eye on.
"I would say RSV, this is not the typical time for it,” Chow said. “Fall and winter time is normally when we do see it. We're seeing it earlier than normal.”
Doctors are also watching out for an earlier flu season. Chow says vaccines, hand-washing and staying home when you're sick can once again help slow those viruses down.
"If we've learned anything about the pandemic from some of these measures, we can really apply those measures to year-round," he said.