Thanks to the pandemic, you’re probably a lot more aware of infectious diseases than you ever thought you would be. We wouldn’t be surprised if you can recite the symptoms of COVID-19 in your sleep and know all about the importance of getting your annual flu shot.
But there’s another virus you should definitely be aware of, especially if you have kids or you’re expecting one. It’s called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and while it’s usually not super serious in older kids and healthy young adults, it can be really risky for babies and older people. According to the CDC, RSV is the most common cause of hospitalization in infants, affecting up to 80,000 kids younger than five every year.
If you have kids—and an infant, in particular—here’s what you need to know about RSV symptoms in babies, plus when to seek medical care for a sick child.
What is RSV?
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes coldlike symptoms. In fact, doctors usually can’t tell just from your symptoms if you have RSV or another virus that causes the common cold, Danelle Fisher, MD, the chair of pediatrics at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, tells SELF.
Most people recover just fine (in about a week or two) when they’re sick with RSV. However, the symptoms can potentially become serious for infants and other young children, as well as older adults and those with severely weakened immune systems. In fact, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis, an inflammation of the small airways in the lungs, and pneumonia, an infection of the lungs, in kids under the age of one in the US.
“Because children less than two years of age have smaller lower airways, the inflammation, which results in mucus production, can occlude those small lower airways, leading to labored breathing and sometimes lower oxygen levels,” Rosemary Olivero, MD, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, tells SELF. Kids two and older have larger lower airways, though, and “tend to have less respiratory difficulty with RSV infections,” even if their lower airways do get inflamed, Dr. Olivero says.
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How does RSV spread to infants?
It’s important to get this out of the way: Almost all children get RSV at least once before they’re two years old, per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Infants usually get RSV from parents, other caregivers, or close family members, although they can also pick it up when they’re out in public, John C. Brancato, MD, division head of emergency medicine at Connecticut Children’s, tells SELF.
The virus can be transmitted in a few ways:
- Typically, RSV spreads through large droplets. That means a kid could get it if an infected person coughs or sneezes around them, Michael Chang, MD, an infectious disease physician at UTHealth Houston, tells SELF.
- You can also pass the virus from person to person, like when you are hugging or kissing a child.
- Droplets can also land on surfaces (like a doorknob or toy). So if you come into contact with an infected surface and then touch your baby, or your child directly touches something, they could get RSV.
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