Doctors are reporting an uptick in severe common cold cases among children, and experts are suggesting it is a side effect of young immune systems that were sheltered and not exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rhinoviruses and enteroviruses are increasingly common, according to CBS News.
"What's been interesting is that we have had kind of a potpourri of viruses," Whole Child Pediatrics Dr. Natalie Lambajian-Drummond told CBS.
"I would say the children that are under 5 are kind of the group to watch," she added. "A lot of the younger kids, we're seeing them have been having a lot more severe courses when they get these viruses."
Lambajian-Drummond noted she "even had to admit one by ambulance" to a hospital for a serious infection — in August.
"I don't typically call ambulances for respiratory viruses in August," she told CBS.
Summer infections among children used to be rare in New York City, too, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Dr. Czer Anthoney Lim told Fox News.
"We've seen a larger number of young children and infants with respiratory illnesses than we usually [see] in the summer — and more children with severe illness require hospital and ICU admissions," the director of pediatric emergency medicine said.
Rhinoviruses are the most common respiratory viruses to cause the common cold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but respiratory syncytial viruses can be serious in infants.
Respiratory syncytial virus is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms.
"Historically, respiratory syncytial virus season began sometime in the mid-to-late fall and would extend into the early spring," Duke University School of Medicine Dr. Mike Smith told Fox News. "RSV can cause bronchiolitis — inflammation of the small airways — and cause problems breathing that require hospitalization for children in the first year of life.
"Children at higher risk of severe disease after RSV include those who were born prematurely [< 29 weeks gestational age] or have chronic lung disease, certain types of congenital heart disease, certain neuromuscular diseases, and immunosuppression."