RSV, long dismissed as just another winter bug, is rewriting the calendar and the risk map. Federal data show test positivity climbing above last year’s levels, even as spring takes hold. The CDC’s wastewater surveillance now paints half the nation in “moderate” circulation, with the Midwest and northern Plains glowing as stubborn hot zones. This isn’t a blip; it’s a season that refuses to end.
Public health officials are responding with a move once considered unthinkable: extending RSV immunization efforts through at least April 30. For parents of infants, older adults, and people with fragile lungs, those extra weeks could mean the difference between a scare and a hospital stay. The late-season surge is a warning that our assumptions about “winter viruses” may no longer hold—and that adaptation, not nostalgia, will decide how many families stay safe.
