Respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, has been receiving a lot of national press recently. Both locally and across the country, hospitals have seen a spike in cases this year.
“It’s definitely earlier this year,” said Dr. Greg Kriebel, a pediatrician at Monadnock Community Hospital. “We probably started seeing a little bit around August and September. Typically we don’t see RSV until October.”
RSV often mimics a common cold – with symptoms that include runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing and fever – and may cause wheezing that can look similar to an asthma attack. In severe cases, children who are struggling to breathe may need to be hospitalized and put on oxygen. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults, and it is the most-common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children younger than 1 year old in the United States.
Kriebel explained that before the pandemic, most children had been exposed to the virus before they were 3 years old. But “we’ve had two years of relatively healthy kids,” he said. With social distancing measures and masking in place to protect people from COVID-19, transmission of other respiratory viruses was reduced as well.
Kriebel expects that children who weren’t exposed to RSV during the years of pandemic-related isolation are likely being exposed now, creating “two to three years worth of RSV in one season.”
“The good news is the older you are, the less severe [it is],” Kriebel said, “The younger you are, the more likely you are to have respiratory difficulties.”
Kriebel has noticed an increase in parents of patients asking for RSV tests, possibly a requirement from schools and day care facilities, but there is no specific treatment for the disease.
In addition to seeing more RSV cases at Monadnock Community Hospital, Kriebel said the hospital is seeing more cases of flu much earlier than it would expect in a normal year.
“Pre-COVID, flu season would peak in January/February,” he said.
And Kriebel is finding that patients are getting more sick from colds and the flu than they were a few years ago because their bodies aren’t used to being sick and they aren’t used to having colds.
In regards to RSV, “As far as advice I’m giving – yes be smart. Don’t take a newborn into a crowded area,” Kriebel said.
However, he isn’t suggesting parents keep their children at home. He has seen a major rise in anxiety, and he thinks getting out of the house without being reckless is important for both parents’ and children’s mental health.