Child dies of RSV • Indianapolis police billboard targets DPD • Election protectors recruited in Detroit

As concerns of a respiratory illness that is particularly threatening toward children grow, health officials report a 6-year-old boy from Macomb County has died from RSV.

The death was reported the same day the Oakland County Health Department asked anyone experiencing cold symptoms to limit their contact around children, especially those who are immunocompromised.

Kids under 4 represent the largest group of patients visiting hospitals due to respiratory syncytial virus infections, the medical director said Wednesday.

"RSV is affecting our youngest, more vulnerable residents," Oakland County Medical Director Dr. Russell Faust said. "We are concerned about RSV, flu and COVID-19 all being widespread as we move into the winter. Get your COVID and flu vaccines when eligible and wash your hands often."

RSV cases are peaking earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, surging in kids that are ending up in hospitals months before doctors expect it to. 

RSV is a common respiratory virus that typically causes mild cold-like symptoms in most people that contract it. However, it can become a serious health concern for infants and older adults, causing health concerns like lung inflammation like bronchiolitis and pneumonia. 

The wave of respiratory infections may have sparked another problem: a shortage of medicine needed to treat bacterial infections. Amoxicillin, which is often prescribed to fight a number of ailments brought on by bacteria, helps treat upper respiratory and ear infections. 

Dr. Matthew Navarre with Trinity Health told FOX 2 a nationwide shortage of the drug has people scrambling for solutions.

"As the caregiver, as the parent, as the patient, ask that pharmacy to contact the prescriber and see if there is an alternative (medicine) they can prescribe, so they are not jumping through hoops trying to find a medication that they likely won't be able to find at another pharmacy, either."

MORE: Nationwide shortage of medicine to treat bacterial infections is hitting Metro Detroit, too

Right now the antibiotic is on backorder across the country and it may correlate with the increase of RSV cases. Amoxicillin doesn't fight the viral infection directly, but instead against the potential infections that come from a weakened immune system.

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Nationwide shortage of medicine to treat bacterial infections is hitting Metro Detroit, too

Right now the antibiotic is on backorder across the country and it may correlate with the increase of RSV cases. To be clear, Amoxicillin is not prescribed to fight the viral infection RSV directly.

The scarcity of the drug may also be the result of a disrupted supply chain that continues ripple from the pandemic. 

For those most at risk include, they include:

  • Premature infants
  • Children younger than 2 years old with chronic lung or heart conditions
  • Children with weakened immune systems

The Oakland County Health Department is asking that anyone at risk of a severe RSV infection who has difficulty breathing or a high fever should seek medical attention immediately. 

Suspect who choked driver in moving truck is former MSU football player, WWE wrestler

The 41-year-old man behind a bizarre incident that escalated to him choking the driver of a vehicle he was in before his girlfriend who was also in the car exited the truck and was fatally struck in a hit-and-run is a former Michigan State football player and WWE wrestler

Kyle Garrett Rasmussen faces charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder after he was arrested for attacking the driver of a truck he and his girlfriend were in. Police say an argument between the two happened in a Chevrolet Silverado while on M-59. 

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the victim managed to pull the car over before fleeing the vehicle. "The other passenger in the car, a female - our victim - jumped out of the car and was in the roadway when she was struck by an unrelated vehicle going in the same direction on M59 near Adams Road," he said.

Investigators say she was struck by an Audi Q7 SUV which didn't stop. "If you know who was driving that car. If you've seen a friend a neighbor a family member with a recently damaged Q7 Audi, please call us or call Crime Stoppers (1-800-SPEAK-UP) anonymously."

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Sheriff: Suspect who tried to choke driver in moving truck is former MSU football player, WWE wrestler

The hit-and-run was a tragic ending to a bizarre incident that started with some sort of argument in the back of a Chevrolet Silverado on M-59.

Indianapolis police recruit DPD officers with I-75 billboard

The Indianapolis Metro Police Department is fishing for new cops, targeting officers in Detroit with a billboard campaign encouraging them to apply to the force. It's located on I-75 near E. Grand Blvd. They are paying officers more than $75,000 after two years on the job, with a starting pay of nearly $62,000 and then some.

A sergeant with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department said the department is offering $10,000 signing bonuses to join the force. Chief James White in Detroit said people come from all over the country trying to recruit DPD's officers.

"They're the best in the country; they see more than most in less amount of time. So certainly, they're the ones you're going to want to work for your agency," he said.

In response to the out-of-state campaign, the department is pleading with the city council to sign off on a new contract that was hammered out between Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit Police Department unions. It would boost starting pay to $53,000 and max pay to $73,000 with 4% annual raises.

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Indianapolis police buy recruiting billboard in Detroit off I-75

From the Motor City to the Circle City. The Indianapolis Metro Police Department is fishing for new cops and dropping a line in Detroit. You can find the billboard on I-75 near E. Grand Blvd.

Absentee voting in Michigan: What to know ahead of 2022 midterm

With nearly 2 million absentee ballots being requested in Michigan and 1.1 million being returned, the mail-in ballots are poised to play an outsized role in the state's upcoming election - not unlike how 2020 played out during the presidential election two years ago.

If you're planning to vote absentee, there's still time to request a ballot, return your ballot, and even register to vote. All registered Michigan voters can request a ballot unless someone is incarcerated. No reason is necessary. 

Since the Nov. 8 election is next week, it's advised that any absentee balloting is done in-person and not mailed as the state can't guarantee it will arrive at the clerk's office in time. You can visit the clerk’s office to request and complete the absentee ballot anytime up to 4 p.m. the Monday before Election Day - by 4 p.m. Nov. 7.

If someone requested an absentee ballot but never returned it, it can be surrendered or someone can sign a statement stating the ballot was lost or destroyed before voting at the polls. Here's everything else there is to know about absentee ballots in Michigan. 

Detroit Action recruiting ‘election protectors’ for midterms

An election advocacy group is ensuring the voices of Detroit voters are heard as citizens spent much of this week early voting.

"For Detroit Action, we think of voting in the election as a tool for civic engagement," said Branden Snyder, executive director of Detroit Action. "Though it's not the end all, be all - it's a comma in the sentence of elections; not the period. So for us, that means we want to be able to hold election officials accountable."

Along with helping voters, Snyder said the group's goal is to recruit election protectors. "We're going to ask people to work and observe the polls - polling locations here in Metro Detroit," he said. "What they're going to be asked to do, is monitor the polls to make sure that nothing is happening where people are being intimidated going to vote."

Detroit Action says it's received hundreds of responses to help observe, certify votes, and make sure polling places have proper signage - especially in Black and brown neighborhoods. "We've had a really good response from people who typically don't believe they have a role in politics," Snyder said. "People who care about whether regular, every day Detroiters voices are heard."

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Daily Forecast

Plan on fog to end later this morning before temperatures climb into the high 60s as part of an unseasonal start to November.

What else we're watching

  1. Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said at least one person was shot over a domestic incident and one person was taken to the hospital. It happened at an apartment complex at 10 Mile and Hoover. 
  2. Former Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to Michigan Friday to campaign for Tom Barrett, who is running for Congress in the 7th District against incumbent Elissa Slotkin. It's the latest in a string of high-profile appearances in Michigan. 
  3. Gas prices continue to rise in Michigan. An analyst with GasBuddy said a refinery Indiana is still under maintenance and will be until mid-November. It could be one of the reasons why gas is rising in the Great Lakes but not elsewhere. 
  4. A new "Power to the People" mural is going up at Woodward and Larned as the city tries to boost its culture district. 
  5. Detroit City Clerk Janice M. Winfrey is expected to discuss the midterms during a new conference Thursday. Neither WInfrey nor the clerk's office has commented on a recent lawsuit that seeks to prevent Detroit voters from casting a ballot by mail-in.

Biden urges voters to save American democracy from lies and violence

Warning that democracy itself is in peril, President Joe Biden called on Americans Wednesday night to use their ballots in next week's midterm elections to stand up against lies, violence and dangerous "ultra MAGA" election disruptors who are trying to "succeed where they failed" in subverting the 2020 elections.

This is no time to stand aside, he declared. "Silence is complicity."

After weeks of reassuring talk about America's economy and inflation, Biden turned to a darker, more urgent message, declaring in the final days of midterm election voting that the nation's system of governance is under threat from former President Donald Trump's election-denying lies and the violence Biden said they inspire.