RSV symptoms typically last 1 to 2 weeks in most people, though the timeline varies quite a bit depending on age and overall health. The illness follows a predictable pattern: mild cold-like symptoms first, a peak around day 3 to 5, then a gradual recovery. For some groups, particularly infants, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems, the virus can linger significantly longer.
From Exposure to First Symptoms
After you’re exposed to RSV, symptoms usually appear within four to six days. This is the incubation period, and during it you feel completely fine even though the virus is already replicating in your respiratory tract. Importantly, you can become contagious a day or two before you notice anything is wrong, which is one reason RSV spreads so efficiently through households and daycare settings.
How Symptoms Progress Day by Day
The first signs are a runny nose and decreased appetite, especially in young children. A cough typically develops 1 to 3 days after those initial symptoms. From there, you can expect the illness to follow a rough arc: symptoms build over the first few days, peak somewhere around days 3 through 5, and then gradually improve. Fever, if it occurs, tends to come and go during the first few days and usually resolves before the cough does.
For healthy older children and adults, the whole illness often feels like a stubborn cold. The acute phase wraps up within a week or so, and most people feel back to normal within two weeks. The cough is almost always the last symptom to leave.
Timeline for Infants and Young Children
Babies follow a similar overall timeline, but the illness can escalate more quickly. What starts as a runny nose and mild cough can progress within a day or two to wheezing, rapid breathing, or difficulty feeding. These are signs the infection has moved into the lower airways, a condition called bronchiolitis.
Most infants who develop bronchiolitis still recover at home with supportive care over 1 to 2 weeks. Those who need hospitalization, usually for help with breathing or hydration, are typically discharged within a few days once they can breathe comfortably and feed on their own. A lingering cough or mild wheeze can persist for a couple of weeks beyond that, even after the infection itself has cleared.
Why It Takes Longer in Older Adults
RSV in adults over 65 tends to drag on well beyond the standard two-week window. Research from CIDRAP found that older adults with RSV reported lingering symptoms, particularly a productive cough, for a median of 21 days. That’s three full weeks, and some patients take even longer to feel fully recovered. Adults 80 and older tend to need more medical follow-up visits as their symptoms resolve more slowly.
If you have a chronic lung or heart condition, the recovery curve stretches further. RSV can trigger flare-ups of existing respiratory problems that outlast the infection itself.
How Long You’re Contagious
You’re contagious while you have symptoms, which for most people means 3 to 8 days. But the window extends a bit on each end. You can spread the virus 1 to 2 days before symptoms start, and babies and immunocompromised individuals may continue shedding the virus for up to four weeks after symptoms resolve. That prolonged contagious period is especially important in households with newborns or elderly family members.
There’s no specific test threshold that tells you exactly when you’ve stopped being contagious. The practical rule: once your symptoms have fully resolved and you’ve been fever-free without medication, your risk of spreading the virus drops considerably. For babies and people with weakened immune systems, extra caution with hand hygiene and close contact is warranted for several weeks.
Lingering Cough and Post-RSV Wheezing
Even after the infection clears, a dry or occasionally productive cough can hang around for two to three weeks. This is normal and doesn’t necessarily mean you’re still sick or contagious. The airways become inflamed during the infection, and that irritation takes time to settle down.
In infants and toddlers, post-RSV wheezing is common and can recur with subsequent colds for months after the original infection. This doesn’t always mean a child has asthma, but repeated episodes of wheezing after RSV are worth tracking with a pediatrician, especially in children who had a more severe initial illness.
Can You Get RSV Again?
Yes. RSV does not produce lasting immunity. Reinfection throughout life is the norm, not the exception. The antibodies your body makes after an infection provide some short-term protection, but they fade, and the duration of that protection varies from person to person. Most people get RSV multiple times, though subsequent infections tend to be milder in healthy adults. For older adults and those with chronic conditions, reinfections can still cause serious illness.