BOARDMAN, Ohio - There has been a significant rise of respiratory infections at Akron Children's Hospital in Boardman. 

Nurse practitioner, Linda Beilstein tells 21 News, Respiratory Synctial Virus is the most prominent and spreading at unusually higher rates compared to previous years and cases are present earlier than expected.

"The true RSV season was Nov. 1 through April 1., but even through the summer we were seeing about four percent more patients with RSV", Beilstein says. 

Infants are the most vulnerable of the infection. 

Symptoms of RSV include:

  • Runny nose
  • Discoloration around face and mouth
  • Abnormal breathing 
  • Loss of appetite