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A new study estimates that 1 in 50 healthy children under the age of 5 worldwide are infected with a common virus currently surging in the United States. respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Researchers estimate that in high-income countries, one in her 56 healthy babies born on time will be hospitalized with her RSV within the first year of life.
The virus, which is known to be particularly dangerous to premature and medically vulnerable babies, is causing a “significant burden of disease among infants worldwide,” said Thursday in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The authors of the study published in wrote,
Other studies have looked at the number of children with pre-existing medical conditions who are hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus, but the new study is one of the first to look at the number of otherwise healthy children.
“This is actually a much higher number than some people would have guessed as this is the baby at the lowest risk of being hospitalized for this.” Wilhelmina at Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands Children’s hospital. Bont is also the founder of the ReSViNET Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the global burden of RSV infections.
Estimates are based on a study that examined RSV cases in 9,154 infants born between July 2017 and April 2020, followed for the first year of life.babies were taken care of in health centers across Europe.
In this study, about 1 in 1,000 children were admitted to an intensive care unit for respiratory support. This care is very important. The risk of death is very high in areas where hospital care is scarce.
“The majority of deaths from RSV occur in developing countries,” said Bont. “In developed countries, deaths are very rare, and if they do, only those with severe comorbidities. But most parts of the world do not have intensive care units.”
Globally, RSV is the second leading cause of death in the first year of life in children after malaria. Between 100,000 and 200,000 babies die from the virus each year, Bont said.
Dr. Christina Dieter, pediatrician and chief of pediatrics at the University of Nevada, Reno, said that although deaths from RSV are low in high-income countries, the virus still causes significant morbidity and even hospitalizations have a severe impact. said it was possible. Critical Care at Pediatrix Medical Group.
“Whether it’s just a traumatic event, emotional problems after a hospital stay, or even having more vulnerable lungs, for example, if you have a very severe infection at a young age, you may be more susceptible to it later. You can develop asthma in your lungs, which can cause permanent damage to your lungs,” said Dieter, who was not involved in the new study. It’s a virus, and that’s what we’re really focused on.It’s like bread and butter in the pediatric ICU.”
Healthcare providers know that November through March is the traditional ‘viral season’ and should plan accordingly for RSV and other respiratory problems.
Dr. Nicholas Holmes, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Radi Children’s Hospital in San Diego, said the hospital’s staff always has enough respiratory therapists and doctors to manage the influx of cases. said.
Still, at the West Coast’s largest children’s hospital, staff had to be creative to keep up with patient numbers, Holmes said.
“One of the things we have done recently to help is there are a lot of clinicians who are licensed nurses or therapists, or doctors like me, who have non-clinical roles within their organizations. So we We will fill that gap by supporting those licensed staff to support our nurses and doctors in the direct line of patient care,” Holmes said.
On Wednesday, Holmes said he spent an hour and a half in the emergency department rather than doing his regular job through the hospital’s Helping Hands program. He checked on his family and patients and handed out blankets and his pop of fruit. This gave him the opportunity to monitor the problem and alert the nurses if the child became ill and needed immediate medical attention.
“This allows the nursing team in the triage area to really focus on the sickest of the sick children,” Holmes said.
Although there is no specific treatment for RSV in healthy babies, recent developments in vaccines and treatments mean that busy hospitals may benefit.
there is only one monoclonal antibody therapy For those with chronic diseases and premature births. This has been available since 1998 and has made a big difference, Deeter said.
“Once premature babies started receiving it, that number dropped dramatically,” she said. and vulnerable groups are very well protected by these injections, but there are still thousands of uninjected babies coming to hospital who need supportive care, and in many cases they are unable to breathe. Managed without ancillary systems.”
There are things parents of young children can do to prevent RSV, said Dr. Priya Soni, assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. These are simple actions everyone knows about during the Covid-19 pandemic. Wash your hands often, stay home if you are sick, and keep surfaces clean.
“Since the virus is a little more resistant to hard surfaces, actually cleaning these surfaces and washing your hands will go a long way with RSV and generally limit a child’s exposure to infected respiratory secretions and droplets. I will,” said Soni. I am involved in new research.
Findings from studies on the number of children who become infected with RSV in the first months of life show how important it is to have vaccination strategies for pregnant women, she said.
“Anything we can do to close the gap in infants as young as six months old may be really susceptible to RSV infection,” Soni said.
In the United States, four RSV vaccines may be nearing FDA review. Around the world, dozens of people are taking the test. European Commission approves preventive treatment of lower respiratory tract infections with RSV last week.
Experts say these developments could be game changers.
“Every pediatrician I know has always worked very hard around Christmas time. We are overwhelmed with RSV patients each year,” Bont said. “This year or next year may be the last time we actually see it, because it can really prevent the majority of serious infections.”
