(Amy Sacks/ Everyday Health) — If you’re like most people, you’ve almost definitely been infected with RSV — respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-ul) virus — at least once. In fact it’s likely you’ve had RSV multiple times. This seasonal virus is so widespread that almost all of us have had an RSV infection by the time we turn 2, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).
Most of the time an RSV infection is merely uncomfortable, but in some cases it can be life-threatening. It is a particular danger to babies younger than 6 months, for whom an infection in the lungs and breathing passages can lead to serious illness, hospitalization, and even death.
Other groups at high risk of severe disease from RSV include people who are immunocompromised and adults ages 65 and up. In fact the NFID has called RSV in older adults “a hidden annual epidemic.” (…)