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Across the United States, many children are getting sick from Respiratory Syncytial Viruses (RSV). 

According to the , cases have tripled from two months ago, with the total number of cases already nearing the peak from 2021. 

As a result, 26 states say their hospitals are with the number of patients. More than 70% of pediatric hospital beds across the country are full. 

Two of the 26 states that are struggling are neighbors Georgia and Mississippi. 

Alabama's hospitals are currently not swamped by patients, but the idea of them doing that is worrying doctors. 

"We tend to move regionally when it comes to waves of illnesses," said Dr. Wes Stubblefield with the Alabama Department of Public Health. "So, any time we start to see surrounding states being hit hard with something, we always worry about Alabama being next."

Stubblefield believes the significant increase in patients is likely due to a variety of factors, including the pandemic. 

"The children that over the past couple of years haven't been exposed to sort of that normal, seasonal variation in viruses," said Stubblefield. "They haven't built up that immunity."

With Alabama already struggling with high rates of influenza, this could be devastating to hospitals already dealing with shortages in staff. 

With winter soon approaching, Stubblefield said he is concerned this wave of respiratory viruses will not slow down. 

"My concern is that we are going to continue to see waves of illness, Covid-19 probably being one of them, over the winter," said Stubblefield.  "I think this is just sort of an early peak into what could be a pretty nasty winter."