Because we all face the summer rise of COVID-19 due to the Delta variant, there is also another virus that has circulated widely, called respiratory syncytial virus (or RSV). RSV is an incredibly common respiratory virus, which usually circulates between October and February. But with the early rise this year coming when it comes to going back to school, there are a few things parents should keep in mind.
To begin with, it is estimated that at two years, almost all children will have been infected with RSV“And it’s possible to get infected several times.” “Everyone is likely to have been infected with RSV at least once in their lifetime,” he said Dr. Michael Chang, assistant professor of pediatrics at UTHealth Houston.
The vast majority of children who receive RSV will have a mild case: they may develop runny nose, cough, and even high fever, but will recover well. For adults, getting RSV usually feels like a nasty cold, if they experience symptoms. However, more serious cases can and do occur.
Some children will need hospitalization because of RSV
While the vast majority of children will be fine, some will develop a severe case of RSV that requires hospitalization. A serious case has the risk of becoming bronchiolitis, which is when the small airways of the lung or pneumonia become inflamed.
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In an average year, it is estimated 58,000 children are hospitalized due to RSV, with an average stay of one or two days. Although deaths from RSV are rare, hospitalization is not necessary due to a severe case of RSV.
Severe cases of RSV usually occur in young infants
Severe cases of RSV usually occur in young infants, usually under six months, as well as in children with lung or heart problems. This includes children with congenital heart defects, as well as children under the age of two who were born prematurely because their lungs are more vulnerable.
For children at high risk for RSV complications, there is one drug called palivizumab which can help prevent serious illness from the virus, although it cannot cure or treat children who already have a severe RSV. Unfortunately, there is still no vaccine against RSV.
If your child has RSV and has difficulty breathing, or if you hear a whistle when it expires, it is a sign that you should go to the emergency room or hospital. For babies, if they breathe fast or take a long time to feed, it is a sign that they need medical attention.
We are currently seeing a summer increase in RSV
Considering all the precautions of COVID-19 during the last year and a half, doctors did not see many cases of RSV during the winter. However, once precautions began to rise and people began to go out again, cases of RSV began to rise, in a summer wave out of season that many doctors, including experts in infectious diseases like Chang, they did not expect.
Doctors currently see an RSV case rate that matches, if not more so, what they normally see in the winter. “All of this happens in mid-August and July, which is absolutely unusual for RSV,” Chang said.
Hospitalizations for RSV coincide with hospitalizations for COVID-19
Unfortunately, what this means is that children who develop severe cases of RSV end up in the hospital during a time when capacity is already extended due to COVID. In summer, pediatric ICUs often see many injuries from accidents, while in winter, there are many cases of flu and RSV.
“Normally, the RSV will reach a high point and maybe start to go down, and then come the flu,” Chang said. “Usually that’s what we see every winter.”
Right now, they see the usual summer accidents, an influx of RSV, as well as all the additional patients with COVID-19. This means that full hospitals have to move some of their patients to another location.
“We’ll always find you a bed, but it could be in another state,” Chang said.
COVID-19 precautions work very well for RSV
The good news is that COVID-19 precautions are also incredibly effective at preventing the spread of RSV. “The interventions we do for COVID-19 (masks, physical distancing, hygiene) are the same ones you would do for RSV,” Chang said.
So mask yourself and keep washing your hands, because doing so will prevent not only COVID-19 from spreading, but also RSV.