Tulsa-area doctors seeing increase in virus-related illness in children

TULSA, Okla. — Doctors nationwide, including many in Green Country, are finding winter time viruses are showing up this summer.

Dr. John Lukeman with the Warren Clinic in south Tulsa said he and his colleagues began noticing multiple cases of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, and other mild illnesses starting to come in back in May and patients have steadily continued to come in.

Lukeman said many of these illnesses are usually prevalent in children in the colder fall and winter months because kids are inside school buildings and daycare centers together, but with kids wearing masks and some learning at home last fall and winter, the viruses didn’t get their usual chance to spread.

He said now that the masks have come off and kids have returned to day camps and daycares for the summer, the viruses are once again on the move.

Lukeman’s own son Rhett came down with Hand Foot and Mouth just a little more than a week ago.

These viruses are considered mild in comparison to other illnesses, but they still make you feel miserable, are contagious, and will impact someone’s abilities to live their daily lives.

One illness that is not popping up with the older winter-time viruses, however, is the flu. Lukeman said these other viruses are usually what people have when it is determined they don’t have the flu during cold and flu season.

Lukeman said there really are no preventative measures that someone can take, but washing hands and practicing good hygiene and staying away from others who are ill are your best defense.

Younger children have shown the need for hospitalization and are at a higher risk for complications.

Children can spread these illnesses to adults.

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