According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus usually peaks in the late fall and winter, but some hospitals are already reporting dozens of cases a day. The reason for the early spike could be more children returning to normal life more than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic started. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in babies under the age of 1. Although it usually only causes mild cold-like symptoms in adults, the virus can be life-threatening for children, adults older than 65 and immunocompromised people.
The onset of RSV season ranges from mid-September to mid-November with its peak from late December to mid-February. However, the pandemic skewed the seasonal patterns for the virus.
“Prior to 2020, seasonal patterns for RSV in the United States were very consistent,” a CDC informational page about the virus said. “However, the patterns of circulation for RSV and other common respiratory viruses have been disrupted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020. Beginning in the southern region of the United States, RSV circulation began to rise in the spring months of 2021. It is too soon to predict when the previous seasonal patterns will return.”
Who Is at Risk?
Some experts speculate that the reason the disease is plaguing so many children is because many of them wore masks, stayed home when sick and did not attend daycare or venture out in public with their parents as often because of COVID-19 restrictions.
“This year, parents are sending their children to daycare and school for the first time following two years of the pandemic,” Dr. Laura Romano said earlier this month in a Texas-based Cook Children’s Hospital newsroom publication. “Children who haven’t been previously exposed to respiratory viruses are getting sick.”
Laura Hayman, a professor in the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences at University of Massachusetts Boston, agreed. Hayman told Newsweek on Monday that RSV spreads through droplets, such as sneezing and coughing, and can spread from touching a contaminated surface. She said the virus spreads rapidly in highly-populated areas, such as preschools and daycares.
“Some data suggests most children have had it by the age of 3 years,” she added. “Fortunately, we can control it.”
Hayman suggested covering one’s nose and mouth when they sneeze or cough, wearing masks and frequently washing hands to prevent the spread of RSV.
Meanwhile, doctors told National Public Radio (NPR) on Monday that they are seeing dozens of patients with RSV a day. The CDC reports how many positive cases are identified in each state, with many seeing nearly a quarter of their tests for RSV come back positive over a three-week average. Some southern states are seeing a higher percentage, with Texas seeing more than 22 percent of its tests come back positive for more than 1,000 cases in the last five weeks. However, the CDC reports that southern states like Florida see an earlier uptick in RSV cases than other states. Alaska has zero cases for its five-week average and hasn’t seen a spike this year so far.
Hayman told Newsweek it’s less of a geographical virus and more of one that spreads faster in areas where people aren’t informed.
“Informed individuals will practice good hygiene,” she said. “It’s very contagious.”
Children hospitals are overrun according to reports, but an even more at-risk group is adults older than 65. According to the CDC, on average, the virus results in 58,000 hospitalizations annual for children. Adults 65 years and older were even more at risk, with RSV resulting in 177,000 hospitalizations. Typically, RSV causes 100 to 300 deaths in children under 5 each year and 14,000 deaths in adults 65 and older.
Symptoms and Treatment
RSV presents with symptoms like a cold, such as sneezing, runny nose, coughing and fever. It can develop into bronchiolitis, which causes inflammation in the bronchioles resulting in dry cough, wheezing and problems breathing. Bronchiolitis is often the reason people fighting the virus are admitted to the hospital.
Once in the hospital, according to Knowing RSV, there is no routine treatment. Medication to reduce fever, using saline drops or suctioning a stuffy nose or antibiotics if there’s bacterial infection are common treatment routes. If a child is having trouble breathing, they are usually treated with IV fluid, oxygen and, in severe cases, are put on a ventilator.
Testing and Prevention
There is a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test for RSV, but it’s not often needed. Knowing RSV reported that doctors tend to diagnose the virus based on symptoms. Doctors also can conduct a blood test to check for the immune system’s response. During hospitalization, chest x-rays are done to ensure there are no lung complications from the virus.
In addition, GoodRX reported that there is no vaccine to prevent RSV. As of March, there were four RSV vaccines being studied in late-stage clinical trials.
Newsweek reached out to several respiratory disease specialists and the CDC for comment.
