As kids return to the classroom, three illnesses follow

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Kids are returning to the classroom. For many, it’s their first time back without masks.

“You know anywhere you go, you just don’t know,” Kimberly Hatchell, mother of four.

As a result, more kids are getting sick.

“I have been concerned it is a concern everyday," Hatchell said. "You're out there touching people.”

Hatchell brought her daughter into Tucson Central Pediatrics for a checkup. But she says the waiting room was packed with families.

“We’re seeing a lot more illness than we have in the last two years,” said Pediatrician Gretchen Hull at Tucson Central Pediatrics.

Hull says she’s seeing a rush of new patients. Some have COVID or the flu, both of which symptoms could be minimized with a vaccine. But less preventable is RSV.

“It’s incredibly contagious and we don’t build adequate immunity to it which is why we get it almost every year,” Hull said.

For kids, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, also called RSV, can be a serious problem. Hull says an infection could last two days or eight weeks.

“It often presents with wheezing and fast breathing and a lot of congestion.”

Hull says parents can get saline or a Nose Frida to help with congestion. Doctors are anticipating a bad flu season, so if you want to get the flu vaccine, October is the best time to do it. Hull also says it’s fine to do it at the same time as a COVID vaccine, and side effects shouldn't be any different.