There’s a “viral soup” that makes people miserable, including the flu and COVID-19, but Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, leads the way in making kids feel sick.
There are long wait times in pediatric urgent care clinics, doctor’s offices and emergency departments, overflowing with little ones suffering from viruses that make it difficult to breathe and half-kill their parents.
Cases of RSV, which can mimic a cold or the flu, have increased over the past three weeks, said Dr. Brian Money, a pediatric hospitalist at Banner Health in Northern Colorado. Most of Banner’s pediatric hospital beds have been full or operating at high capacity for the past three weeks, he said.
“By mid-to-late October, it’s been removed and we still have other viruses in there. It’s a viral soup,” he said.
UCHealth network labs processed more than 300 positive tests for RSV last week compared with 15 to 40 positive tests per week in September, spokeswoman Kelly Tracer said. Although UCHealth doesn’t have specific numbers for Northern Colorado, Tracer said his Northern Colorado hospitals are seeing more and more positive tests.
Symptoms of RSV can be mild to severe and include cough, runny nose, fever, wheezing, loss of appetite, sneezing, and congestion. In infants under 6 months of age, the only RSV symptoms they may exhibit are irritability, decreased activity or appetite, and difficulty breathing.
While the symptoms can be frightening for parents who see babies struggling to breathe, RSV is rarely fatal, with most babies recovering within a few days, Money said. Generally, symptoms peak in three to five days, he said.
In children with asthma, Money advised parents or guardians to see the doctor again if albuterol inhalers don’t help after a half-day or full day of use because they may need steroids. Or go to the emergency room if your child needs to use the Albuterol inhaler more often than every four hours.
The virus gets worse every two years
RSV is cyclical, Money said, with some years worse than others.
Its last serious year was 2019, before COVID-19 hit and most stayed at home and wore masks when venturing outside. Behavioral change eliminated the spread of most viruses, including influenza, in 2020 and 2021.
“Oddly enough, RSV is mostly a winter and fall virus,” Money said. “But in the last year we started seeing it all year round.” Last year it peaked in July through mid-August and continued through the summer, albeit at very low volumes, he said.
Although adults and children can get RSV, it is the little ones who struggle the most and it is the leading cause of hospitalization in children under 12 months of age.
“2-year-olds and younger are our main concern,” Money said, partly because they can’t tell you what’s out there.
“We all feel pretty miserable when we have a cold,” Money said. “The little ones can’t tell you what’s going on but they cry more, they’re on top of you more often and they feed a little more comfortably.”
Babies are primarily nose breathers, so when their noses are stuffy it’s hard to do what they need to do, such as latch on to the chest, she said.
She advises parents to bring their babies to the doctor if they show less interest in eating or breastfeeding, or if they have fewer than three wet diapers a day. If they have trouble breathing or show any discoloration around the mouth, go to the emergency room.
More:Here are Larimer County’s COVID case rates and vaccination rates
What parents can do
Antibiotics don’t work for viruses like RSV, Money said, but there are two things that can make kids feel better: time and absorption. New parents sent home from the hospital with a bulb syringe or nasal spray are effective for sucking up boogers, she said. For comfort, Tylenol or ibuprofen can be effective in bringing down a fever and helping children feel comfortable enough to drink and hydrate.
Viruses can also lead to other bacterial infections, she said, so if your child has a fever or earache, it’s a good idea to see your doctor.
“When there’s a surge like that it can be hard to see people,” Money said. “Ambulatory care providers are working long, hard hours to make sure all patients are cared for.”
Vaccine on the horizon
Currently, there is no vaccine against RSV, but Pfizer says it has seen promising results in trials of the maternal vaccine and will seek FDA approval by the end of the year. Mothers would receive the vaccine when pregnant to provide immunity to their newborns.
In the trial, the vaccine was given to pregnant people and appeared to be about 80 percent effective in preventing severe RSV disease in their babies in the first three months of life, according to a USA TODAY report. It also cuts the risk of a baby needing to see a doctor for an RSV infection in half.
Other clinical trials are underway, but not quite ready for production, Money said. “Time will tell,” he said.
RSV symptoms
Check your baby if you notice any of the following: cough, runny nose, wheezing, loss of appetite, sneezing, fever, congestion. In infants under 6 months of age, the only RSV symptoms they may exhibit are irritability, decreased activity, decreased appetite, and difficulty breathing.
Source: Centers for Disease Control
