Protecting kids from illness during cold, flu, RSV and COVID season
It's cold and flu season — and COVID is still around.
Now parents can add RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, to their list of concerns.
There are vaccines available for influenza and COVID, but not colds or RSV, though an RSV vaccine is in development.
Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services will conduct a COVID-19 and flu vaccination comfort clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday for children ages 6 months to 18 years who are anxious about needles or vaccines. The vaccine clinic will be at the health department, 1005 W. Worley St. Appointments are required.
The vaccines will be in a sensory-friendly environment, said Ryan Sheehan, health department spokesman. Vaccines will be administered in a quiet room away from the clinic with low light. Quiet, soothing music also will be available. Children also will have access to sensory tools including fidget spinners.
COVID and flu vaccines for children at the health department are free and don't require an ID or health insurance, but parental consent forms are required.
Primary doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available for those ages 6 months through 18 years old. Updated Pfizer booster doses also will be available for those ages 5-15 years. A single dose is recommended at least two months following a previous primary or booster vaccination.
Vaccinations are the best way to protect children from the flu and COVID, but there are other measures parents can take to also protect children from the cold and RSV, Sheehan said.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Wash your hands thoroughly and often.
Cover your mouth or nose when you cough or sneeze.
Avoid touching your mouth or eyes.
Keep your child home when sick.
Sheehan avoided the politically-loaded question of if masks are useful when parents and children want them, saying only that it was the family's choice.
The health department is wrapping up its flu vaccinations in all Boone County schools on Friday, Sheehan said. The school vaccinations began Sept. 19.
There aren't a large number of student or teacher absences from illness, said Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark.
"We’re still a good position in CPS with regard to illness," Baumstark wrote in an email. "We have seen some respiratory illnesses, including RSV, just as many are seeing across the country. However, we aren’t seeing numbers that rise above routine for this time of year."
There were 16 students out with COVID-19 on Monday, she wrote.
CPS teachers' union President Noelle Gilzow also reported a few pockets of absences around the school district, but nothing widespread.
University of Missouri Hospital has admitted some patients with RSV, said spokesman Eric Maze.
Boone Hospital has had a few patients with RSV, said spokesman Benjamin Cornelius.
Children younger than six months or with heart or lung problems are the most at risk from RSV, said MU pediatrician Christopher Wilhelm in a video interview conducted by MU Health Care. It can cause increased nasal congestion and a pretty bad cough.
"The babies are the ones we're really worried about," Wilhelm said.
He usually sees cases of RSV January through March, he said.
"This year it came early" starting in October, Wilhelm said.
With babies at home, nasal secretions can be cleared with a bulb syringe, he said. If it is more serious, the child should be taken to a clinic or the emergency room.
"The main spread of this disease is in daycares and at school," Wilhelm said. "If your child is showing any signs of RSV, flu or COVID, keep them at home."
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Cold, flu, RSV, COVID season provides challenges for parents, schools
