Science
Wave of RSV, particularly dangerous for babies, sweeping across U.S.; doctors urge vaccination
A wave of the highly contagious respiratory syncytial virus is sweeping across the United States — sending greater numbers of babies and toddlers to the hospital, recent data show.
The onset of RSV comes as the country heads into the wider fall-and-winter respiratory virus season, also typically marked by increased circulation of ailments such as COVID-19 and the flu. But RSV, the leading cause of infant hospitalization nationwide, presents particular risk for the youngest babies, a major reason health experts recommend pregnant women either get vaccinated near their delivery date or immunize their newborns.
“This is the perfect time to get your vaccine for RSV if you have never gotten one,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement to The Times.
RSV can spread through coughs or sneezes but also by touching a contaminated surface, such as a door handle, and then touching your face before washing your hands, health officials warn.
For the week ending Oct. 11, about 1.2% of emergency room visits nationwide among infants younger than 1 were due to RSV — up from 0.4% a month earlier, according to data posted by PopHIVE, a project led by the Yale School of Public Health.
“An RSV wave is starting to take hold,” epidemiologists Katelyn Jetelina and Hannah Totte wrote in the blog Your Local Epidemiologist.
RSV can be dangerous for infants, older adults and people with certain medical conditions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RSV can cause pneumonia, as well as a severe inflammation of the lungs’ small airways, known as bronchiolitis, the California Department of Public Health said.
“The issue with kids is that their airways are so small that when it causes inflammation in the airways, it’s just very hard to breathe,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert. “So they come in with wheezing … and that’s why they get into trouble.”
Nationally, RSV kills up to 300 children under age 5 annually, and can send up to 80,000 to the hospital. Among seniors age 65 and older, the virus can cause up to 10,000 deaths in a typical year and as many as 160,000 hospitalizations, according to the CDC.
“I think it’s been kind of invisible, mainly because until recently … people wouldn’t test — we couldn’t test for RSV until the age of molecular diagnostics,” Chin-Hong said. “So it has been kind of an invisible epidemic.”
RSV is “kind of a bronze medalist of respiratory viruses, with COVID and influenza No. 1 and No. 2, duking it out, and RSV is No. 3 for older adults,” he added. In general, RSV is the first to emerge during the fall-and-winter virus season, followed by flu then COVID, Chin-Hong said.
Before immunizations became available, about 2% to 3% of young infants were hospitalized for RSV annually, according to the CDC. Most children who are hospitalized for acute respiratory disease caused by RSV were previously healthy, according to a study published by the journal Pediatrics.
They may require oxygen or intravenous fluid or even be put on a ventilator to help them breathe, according to the CDC.
Unlike the flu and COVID-19, there are no antiviral drugs to treat RSV once infection sets in.
For now, the combined activity of respiratory illness from RSV, flu and COVID-19 is considered “very low” in California, state health officials said.
But “we are starting to see the beginnings of respiratory virus season,” the L.A. County Department of Public Health said.
Health officials in Santa Clara County, Northern California’s most populous, are already reporting “medium” levels of RSV in the wastewater of San José, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale.
Now is exactly the time to get vaccinated if you haven’t already — “especially before respiratory virus activity potentially increases later,” said Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the Orange County health officer.
RSV immunizations are recommended for pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of gestational age — about one to two months before their estimated delivery date — as well as for everyone age 75 and up and those age 50 to 74 with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, weakened immune systems, asthma or heart disease. Vaccines are also recommended for individuals who live in a nursing home or long-term-care facility.
If a pregnant woman wasn’t vaccinated against RSV, officials recommend her infant get immunized.
RSV vaccinations are fairly new, being introduced in 2023. There are now three brands — Pfizer’s Abrysvo and GSK’s Arexvy were licensed in May 2023, and Moderna’s mResvia in June 2024. All three can be used for older adults, but only the Pfizer vaccine is available for pregnant women.
Infants were also able to get immunized starting that year through monoclonal antibodies, which aren’t technically vaccines but function similarly in this case.
Older adults who already received an RSV vaccination generally don’t need to get another one.
The arrival of those vaccines followed a particularly brutal 2022-23 respiratory virus season when California was slammed by a hospital-straining “tripledemic” of RSV, flu and COVID.
Unlike the RSV shots, flu and COVID vaccinations are generally recommended ahead of every fall-and-winter virus respiratory season. Older adults, those age 65 and up, can get the COVID vaccination every six months, according to the California Department of Public Health.
People can get the RSV, flu and COVID vaccinations all during the same visit to a healthcare provider, Chinsio-Kwong said.
“Receiving all eligible vaccines at once is considered best practice, as it helps avoid missed opportunities due to scheduling challenges,” she said.
Studies have shown the RSV immunizations are effective.
During last year’s respiratory virus season, there were significant reductions in the RSV hospitalization rate for babies, data show. Data also show RSV vaccines were effective in preventing symptomatic illness in older adults.
Chin-Hong said he suggests “everyone should get it” if they are 75 or older, and for those between age 50 and 74 with heart or lung disease or are very immune compromised, “I think the juice is worth the squeeze.”
Annual routine flu vaccines are recommended for everyone who is at least 6 months old.
As for COVID, a vaccine can be given to anyone who wants one. The California Department of Public Health specifically recommends the shots for everyone age 65 and up, babies age 6 months to 23 months, children and teenagers who have never been vaccinated, and people with certain health risk factors and those in close contact with them.
The California Department of Public Health also recommends pregnant women get the COVID vaccination.
After concerns earlier this season about how difficult it might be to get COVID vaccinations, pharmacists and California health officials now say securing the shots is relatively easy.
The controversy arose in the late summer amid confusing guidance coming from agencies overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has disparaged vaccinations.
There was a period during which the Food and Drug Administration had belatedly approved COVID-19 vaccines only for those age 65 and up and younger people with underlying health conditions. An unprecedented delay in the CDC issuing its own recommendations had the effect of snarling vaccinations for many.
In some states, that meant people were being turned away from getting the COVID vaccine at their local pharmacy, including seniors, even as a late summer surge was raging. And at one point, the powerful CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices nearly recommended the COVID vaccine be available by prescription only.
On Oct. 6, acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill officially lifted the agency’s recommendation that adults under age 65 get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, saying instead that doing so should be based on “individual-based decision-making” in consultation with health professionals.
Now, “patients can go into the pharmacy” and can have conversations on whether to get the COVID-19 vaccine with a professional, Allison Hill, a director of professional affairs for the American Pharmacists Assn., said during a recent webinar.
California also recently clarified state law to make sure that pharmacists can independently administer the COVID vaccine, according to Dr. Erica Pan, director of the state Department of Public Health.
new video loaded: NASA Announces Artemis III Crew
transcript
transcript
NASA Announces Artemis III Crew
NASA announced the crew of Artemis III mission, which will fly to low-Earth orbit to test rendezvous and docking maneuvers with one or two lunar landers.
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“I am excited to welcome you as the next crew in the Artemis journey to successfully return to the moon — this time to stay.” “I’m honored by the role that I’ve been given. I’m also very humbled by the task in front of us. But first and foremost, I’m grateful.” “So with that, the Artemis II crew, comrade, hands you the baton. You got the controls.” “As you know, we had a significant anomaly at our Launch Complex 36A on May 28. We’ve redoubled our efforts and are moving forward.”
By Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
June 9, 2026
Science
Santa Monica Mountains’ last steelhead trout survived the Palisades fire — and even had babies
Scientists feared the Santa Monica Mountains’ last remaining steelhead trout were dead, smothered by debris flows unleashed by the Palisades fire.
But the endangered fish surprised them: A team of biologists recently spotted 30 of the rare trout — and 21 babies — in Topanga Creek.
“There was a lot of happy dancing in the creek,” said Rosi Dagit, principal conservation biologist for the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, which works with public and private landowners to conserve natural resources.
That’s because the steelhead here are endangered, at both the state and federal levels. Once, they swam in most streams of the Santa Monicas, but their numbers plummeted amid overfishing and coastal development. Increasingly frequent wildfire has further stressed their habitat. Topanga Creek, a biodiversity hot spot, is home to their last known population in the mountains that stretch from the Hollywood Hills to Point Mugu in Ventura County.
The trout that were spotted, including this one, are part of a distinct Southern California population that’s listed as endangered at the state and federal levels.
(RCDSMM Stream Team)
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife spearheaded a complex mission to rescue trout threatened by the Palisades fire that sparked in January 2025.
Time was of the essence. The fire hadn’t yet been fully contained. But rain was on the way, which would sweep massive amounts of sediment from the denuded hillsides into the water. Fish are often killed this way.
Crews stunned the fish with electricity, scooped them up in buckets, trucked them to a hatchery and ultimately moved them to Arroyo Hondo Creek in Santa Barbara County.
Within days, Topanga Creek was choked with mud. Some assumed the fish left behind were goners.
But in March, the conservation district’s team found four. The following month, when water conditions were clearer, they saw more.
“These fish continue to amaze me,” said Kyle Evans, environmental program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, who had seen the damage to the creek. “I had seen populations get wiped out in similar situations. So when I heard, I was thrilled.”
Evans surmises the fish that survived were in an area of the creek where less charred material and sediment were swept in.
“These fish likely hunkered down, were hiding under some rocks or places to try to get away from the main concentration of flow,” he said. “And luckily they weren’t buried.”
The ones that were spotted were fairly small, around 6 to 14 inches. Rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species, but with different lifestyles. If the fish remain in freshwater, they’ll be considered rainbows. However, they can migrate to the ocean and become steelhead, where they typically grow larger before returning to their natal waters to spawn.
Topanga Creek hasn’t fully recovered from the damage it sustained, but scientists say it’s looking better. Surveys last year were “so depressing,” Dagit said, with very few animals, and stretches that were essentially transformed into flat roads from all the sediment buildup. Some of the riparian canopy burned right down to the creek.
Then came 32 inches of rain over the last nine months, scouring out and moving sediment, creating deeper pools. Dagit said they recently found newt egg masses for the first time in years, as well as a few adult newts and many frogs. Plants that provide cover are starting to recover.
She provided photos comparing certain pools last year and this year, some dramatically transformed. In September 2025, the Shrine Pool could have been an overgrown hiking trail. This April, it was filled with shallow water.
The Shrine Pool in September 2025, left, and the same location in April 2026, right, with RCDSMM’s Isaac Yelchin donning a wetsuit.
(RCDSMM Stream Team)
Topanga Creek is home to another endangered fish, the small but hardy northern tidewater goby, often described as cute. Not long before the trout operation, Dagit led a rescue of hundreds of these fish too. Many were repatriated to the lagoon at the mouth of the creek in a moving ceremony last June.
There’s still the matter of what to do with the trout that were moved to Santa Barbara County last year. Evans would like to bring them home to the Santa Monicas at some point, but isn’t sure if it will happen. On one hand, they could bolster the small, genetically isolated surviving population. On the other, they might inadvertently bring in a disease or bacteria. There is some time to decide. Evans estimates the creek still needs to recover for two to three more years.
For now, the fish are functioning fine in their adopted creek. Experts worried the trauma wrought by the move would disrupt their spawning process, but they had babies that spring. This year, they spawned again.
The Pacifica Municipal Pier was shut down and taped off Thursday after city workers noticed cracks running through the landmark structure and concrete chunks falling into the ocean.
It’s just one of many coastal California structures that have recently crumbled under pressure from a rising and relentless ocean.
Officials from the small, beach city south of San Francisco said the pier was closed due to “cracking, separation, and displacement of the concrete walkway and structural elements.”
It will stay closed while structural engineers asses its safety.
Photos taken by city employees show a wide crack that runs from top to bottom and across the structure as well. Other photos show a large horizontal crack under the foundation of a small restaurant on the pier, the Chit Chat Cafe.
The cafe was also shut down.
This is not the first time the 53-year-old pier has shown signs of stress. In 2021, part of it was shut down after handrails along the edge collapsed. And in 2023, after a series of storms pummeled the Central California coast, damaging parts of the pier, the structure was partially closed for more than year.
Those same storms caused extensive damage in Aptos and Capitola, 70 miles south, where piers and waterfront infrastructure were swept away or damaged.
In 2024, a 150- to 180- foot section of the Santa Cruz wharf was ripped off by powerful waves.
At least 10 of the state’s dozens of coastal public piers were closed for part or all of 2024 due to structural damage sustained in winter storms since 2022. At least five others have longer-term upgrades planned to address structural issues.
“These things are costly to maintain,” said Zach Plopper, senior environmental director at Surfrider. “They are a part of our California coastal culture in many ways, but we’re going to need to reckon with, one, the state that they’re in, and two, the continuous and worsening threats they’re going to experience,”
He said most of the piers were constructed in the early 1900s, and they weren’t built to withstand decades of rough seas, storms and rising sea level.
“With this incoming El Niño, which is forecasted to be significant, and this marine heat wave we’re in the midst of, we’re kind of in uncharted waters as far as what this winter could bring in terms of storms and swells to the California coast, and we’re likely going to see a lot more damage,” he said. “Not just piers, but roads and other coastal infrastructure up and down the state.”
There was no storm in Pacifica earlier this week, so no single event could be blamed for the destruction.
However, a 2025 report from an outside engineering firm, GHD, found that several sections of the pier were in “poor” or “serious” condition, and they recommended closure before anticipated storms or events that could “subject the piles to high winds, swells and large waves.”
The firm found several areas of the pier where concrete was missing and rebar was exposed and corroding.
“The pier has continued to experience high winds and large waves in a harsh marine environment,” the engineers wrote in the report, noting that continuous exposure to seawater or marine spray was “detrimental” to the structure.
A 2023 city report estimated it would cost $19 million to repair.
That same year, a state law was enacted to require local governments along the California coast to plan for sea level rise in the coming decades.
Sea level has risen some 8 inches, on average, along the coast in the past 150 years, Plopper said, and researchers anticipate another foot in the next 25 years.
“We’re going to see profound shifts on our coastline, none that we have ever experienced before, and building static structures on the coast just doesn’t work all that well,” he said. “We’re going to have to make some really hard decisions.”
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