‘It shouldn’t be this bad’: Pediatricians scramble for RSV shots amid shortage

A steady stream of sick babies and worried parents started flowing into Dr. Monique Soileau-Burke’s exam room in late October. Many were infected with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, a common contagion that spreads in colder months and infects the lungs and can be dangerous for the very young and for older adults. While RSV has gotten off to a slower start this fall than last year, when hospitalizations from the virus in Maryland spiked by 200 in just one month, overwhelming health care centers and leaving parents frantic, the virus is still spreading faster and infecting more children than it did in a typical winter before the pandemic.