![]() ![]() Getting eligible children and adults vaccinated for COVID-19 can help too, so that children ― and particularly susceptible babies ― don’t have to cope with multiple viruses at once. Avoiding crowded settings with babies is important this fall and winterįortunately, the protective measures that help prevent COVID-19 transmission can also minimize children’s risk of coming down with RSV: masking, social distance, and regular hand-washing. But if they’re older, it’ll likely just seem like a cold. So yes, your child could have RSV multiple times in one year. ![]() It’s not like measles or chicken pox, where you get it once and you’re protected,” Ramilo said. It’s also worth noting that RSV is not one of those viruses that you’re exposed to once and then don’t get again. Right now, it is simply too soon to say whether we’re in for another surge this fall and winter, just like it’s really too soon to say whether this upcoming flu season will be bad. “There are a lot of nuances that we need to understand,” he added. So they didn’t necessarily pass on antibodies during pregnancy, Ramilo said. (Unlike the coronavirus, it is also readily spread through surface transmission, and it can survive for many hours on hard surfaces.)Īnother theory is that because pregnant women were not going out into the world as much during the pandemic, they didn’t come into contact with the virus themselves, which for them, would manifest basically as a cold. Like COVID-19, RSV is spread through droplets in the air. One is that cases increased because children were spending time together again over the summer, often without masks, after many months of staying home. Experts don’t know exactly what was behind it - or what it means for what’s to come - but they do have theories. ![]() RSV usually peaks in the fall and winter and declines in the spring, but there was an unexplained surge this summer that seems to be winding down now. Experts don’t fully know why cases surged this summer Since the symptoms are so similar, testing is key - and both COVID tests and RSV tests are available. (Again, this is partly because babies are often the ones getting sick with RSV, and they’re not able to vocalize what they’re smelling or tasting.) There’s also some indication that gastrointestinal issues, like vomiting, tend to be associated more with COVID than RSV. But many kids, like adults, experience a loss of taste or smell - and it’s unclear how much that’s the case with RSV. Mild COVID-19 symptoms in kids are pretty similar: fever, chills, cough. Mild RSV symptoms include a runny nose, dry cough or sore throat, low-grade fever, sneezing or a headache. The problem is that 3% of those kids get very sick, because it goes to the lungs.” RSV and COVID cause slightly different symptoms “It’s estimated that during their first year of life, 50 to 60% of children get infected with RSV. Octavio Ramilo, chief of infectious diseases at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, told HuffPost. “By age 2, at least 90% of children have had one infection with RSV,” Dr. The virus can spread to their respiratory tract, causing pneumonia or bronchiolitis (basically, inflammation of their airways) that can make it difficult for them to breathe. However, babies 1 year and younger are much more susceptible to serious illness. ![]()
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