RSV causes 1 in 50 deaths in children under 5: Study

1 in 50 deaths in healthy children under the age of 5 worldwide is caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common virus currently surging in the United States and Canada, according to a new study is estimated to be 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 lowest risk baby 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 the developed world, mortality is very rare, and virtually anyone who dies, only those with severe comorbidities. But in most parts of the world, there are no 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 post-hospital traumatic psychosocial and emotional problems, or having more vulnerable lungs, for example, if you get a really severe infection when you’re young, it can be a problem later on. It can cause asthma.It can damage your lungs.Permanently,” said Deeter, who was not involved in the new study. “It’s still an important virus in our world, and it’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 that many clinicians who are licensed nurses or therapists, or doctors like me, who have non-clinical roles within their organizations, It means that there is We will bring authorized staff back into support to fill that gap and support 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 problems and alert nurses if a 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 treatment for patients with pre-existing conditions or those born prematurely. This has been available to him 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 well protected by these injections, but there are still thousands of babies born who do not receive them, injections that still require supportive care and often It is managed without a respiratory assistance system.”

There are things parents of infants 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 somewhat resistant to hard surfaces, actually cleaning and hand washing those surfaces not only limits children’s overall exposure to infected respiratory secretions and droplets, but also It helps a lot with RSV.” t is 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 can be really vulnerable to RSV infection,” Soni said.

In the United States, four RSV vaccines may be nearing FDA review. Dozens of people are undergoing clinical trials worldwide. A preventive treatment for lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV received approval from the European Commission last week.

Experts say these developments could be game changers.

“All the pediatricians I know have been working extremely hard all the time over Christmas. We are overwhelmed with RSV cases each year,” said Bont. This year or next year could be the last time we actually see it, because most of it can really be prevented.”