BATON ROUGE - Dr. Mindy Calandro joined us on News 2 at 4 Thursday with some information about a pair of viruses that the medical community has been observing with an alarming increase in frequency.

Headlines have been dominated as of late by updates about the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The CDC has developed interim guidelines for health care providers in the U.S., especially focusing on pregnant women. While an estimated 80 percent of persons infected with the Zika virus remain asymptomatic, it is especially worrisome to pregnant women who may have traveled to areas where the virus is prevalent because it has been correlated to microcephaly in infants. To learn more about the Zika virus and its symptoms, check out the attached video. For info from the CDC about travel notices related to the Zika virus outbreak, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/.

Dr. Calandro also discussed another concerning illness in the form of RSV infection. RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) can cause upper respiratory infections (like colds) and also lower respiratory tract infections (such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia). Dr. Calandro says almost all children will have had an RSV infection by the time their second birthday rolls around, so the disease is also of concern for parents. However, people of any age can get another RSV infection, though infections later in life are usually less severe. RSV infections generally happen during fall, winter and spring so it can be almost a year-round threat. More info from the CDC about RSV is available at http://www.cdc.gov/rsv/.

Dr. Mindy Calandro practices at the Baton Rouge Clinic.