Tag Archive for: respiratory virus

RSV in Infants

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Our daughter-in-law, Kerri, is a pediatric respiratory therapist with 32 years of experience, so she was an obvious choice to talk to about RSV, especially in babies. You need to know more about RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), especially if you’re parents or grandparents of infants less than six months old. The CDC reference at the end has more information for all age groups.

RSV is very common, and most of the time it seems like a common cold; the CDC estimates virtually all children will have RSV by the time they’re two. But with higher infection rates this year, there will be more severe cases than normal. Treating the symptoms, especially the inflammation of the lungs and the potential for pneumonia, is critical if the infection progresses.

How Bad Is It?

How bad is RSV this year? This is the worst year my daughter-in-law has seen. In Charleston where Kerri works, they’ve got beds in the hallway of the NICU because of overflow cases. Her mentor in Virginia has been an RT for 40 years, and it’s the worst she’s ever seen. Cases are up in Grand Rapids, and we’re not even in the critical part of the season yet, which is winter and spring. So it’s serious.

What You Need to Know

Infants will have symptoms, but they can’t tell you directly. A decrease in energy level, decrease in appetite, irritability, runny nose, and coughing are common. The child may or may not have a fever.

This info from my daughter-in-law was surprising to me: infants are nose breathers. The most important thing adults can do is suction the mucus from the nose to keep their breathing pathway open. Yes, you’ll hear the wheezing in the lungs, but the pathway goes through the nose. Use saline drops to keep the tissues moist and a suction bulb to keep the nasal passages open.

More tips from Kerri:

  • Keep a humidifier going; that helps with maintaining the mucus’s fluidity.
  • If the infant has a fever, keep her cool. Don’t pile on a lot of blankets, although that’s seems counter-intuitive. The baby’s breathing rate is higher to dissipate heat, so keep her cool—not cold, just cool.
  • Finally, watch the baby. If he’s really struggling to breathe, especially though his mouth, seek medical attention immediately.

The Bottom Line

Let me repeat: for most people of all ages, RSV seems like a cold. A weakened immune response can cause serious illness, so we have to be cautious. That’s especially true for infants, but also applies to elderly people and anyone with a chronic health condition. As with a cold, you’ll want to manage fever and pain; keep the liquids coming to avoid dehydration.

If there was one good thing that came out of the COVID pandemic, it was that the general public is more knowledgeable about dealing with viruses: wash your hands, keep surfaces clean, don’t touch your face, and cover your coughs and sneezes. RSV is especially communicable, so wearing masks can be beneficial.

Remember, there’s no RSV vaccine yet so prevention is the best option. We want to keep those who can’t speak for themselves as safe as possible, so always pay attention.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/high-risk/infants-young-children.html

Virus Update: RSV

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We have a viral uptick going on right now, and it’s not COVID. My health news feed has been sending warnings about an unusually high number of cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a very common respiratory virus that’s usually not problematic. It generally causes mild, cold-like symptoms, and most people recover in a week or two. However, that isn’t true for everyone; RSV can be very serious for infants under six months and preemies as well as older adults.

Why is it so serious? RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis, an inflammation of the small airways in the lung called the bronchia, and pneumonia infection of the lungs in children younger than one in the U.S. If you’re a numbers person, each year in the U.S., an estimated 58,000 children younger than five are hospitalized with RSV infection resulting in 100 to 500 deaths per year.

The elderly are also at high risk, especially those with compromised immune systems. You want more numbers? It’s estimated that more than 177,000 older adults are hospitalized and 14,000 of them die in the U.S. due to RSV infection every year.

One more complication: there’s no vaccine for RSV. What can we do? I’ll cover that on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Travel Bugs: Everywhere but Planes

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Given the results of this study, where would a person most likely pick up a bug while traveling? Remember, the results of the air and physical locations of the plane that were tested and sent for analysis showed no measurable respiratory viruses of any kind, so the authors speculated about the most likely locations for picking up a virus. They believe you’re more likely to find a bug in transportation to the airport and then to the hotel. Or in the airport at a restaurant or store. In the gate area where people are less confined. In bathrooms where people are more likely to spread the virus to surfaces.

In other words, you can pick up a virus just about everywhere you can imagine but the plane. It’s a good idea to pay the closest attention outside the plane—keep your hand sanitizer handy and wash your hands often—and then don’t worry so much about the inside. Kids are a germ magnet at any time, so be extra vigilant when traveling.

You can also do what I do beginning the day before I leave for a trip: start taking echinacea, garlic, and extra vitamin C to boost your immune system. That’s my way of avoiding respiratory infections or any other form of illness when I travel. After 20 years on the road, it still serves me well. Get the details in the Health Info section of DrChet.com: Immune Boost 1-2-3. In it you’ll learn all about how to tune up your immune system to get ready to meet new germs and viruses, along with the latest info on echinacea, and one more step you can take to get your insides ready to hit the road.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1711611115

 

The Safest Seat on a Plane

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If you want to boost your odds of remaining healthy after a flight, let’s begin with the location of your seating assignment. Researchers determined that the people in the center of coach had the most contacts with other passengers and flight crew. That makes sense. Everyone with the need is going forward or backward to use the bathrooms. But the contacts increase if the passengers leave their seats. In addition, there’s more contact with the crew in the center of the plane.

As to seat location, the aisle seats get the most contact with crew and passengers, the middle seats a little less. The seat with the least contact with passengers or crew is definitely the window seat; in fact, there are zero contacts about 10% of the time. The crew has the most direct contact with passengers; that’s to be expected as they distribute food and drinks, answer questions, and conduct safety checks.

Here’s the surprise: the results of the air and physical locations that were tested and sent for analysis showed no measurable respiratory viruses of any kind. That seems unusual because eight of the flights were during cold and flu season. But finding no viruses means they found no viruses using standard virus-detection tests. It should be noted they did not test for bacteria that could have been present, just respiratory viruses.

Based on the results, the researchers estimated that the major points of contact would be one meter in front and behind a sick passenger sitting in any row. If you were outside of that zone, you could be reasonably confident you didn’t catch a respiratory infection while on a flight, even if some of the passengers were infected with a respiratory virus. In this day and age, the fear of catching some form of respiratory superbug on a flight is extremely low.

Yet we know travel often results in illness. Where could people pick up a bug? I’ll let you know on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1711611115