On May 11, Cao Qing, director of the Infection Department of the National Children's Medical Center and Shanghai Children's Medical Center affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, said in an interview with surging journalists that the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was commonly infected in winter and early spring in the past (about November to February of the next year), perhaps due to the impact of the COVID-19 and flu epidemic, the low pre stored immunity of the population increased the risk of RSV outbreaks.
"Recently, the number of children with RSV infection found in outpatient clinics has increased significantly, and the number of such children admitted to hospital has also increased gradually. Among these children, 50% have wheezing symptoms." Cao Qing explained that perhaps after the COVID-19, people are used to wearing masks, home isolation and other measures to resist the virus, which also cut off the transmission of RSV. With the prevalence of COVID-19, the flow of personnel has strengthened, The pre existing immunity of the human body has decreased, while RSV infection has increased.
Cao Qing further explained that among the children with respiratory diseases admitted to the hospital at present, the proportion of children with RSV infection is higher than that of children with influenza and COVID-19, "RSV is a infectious diseases of children's respiratory tract, and is one of the common and main pathogens that cause bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants. Infants younger than 2 years old have a high risk of RSV infection, which is easy to cause the destruction of airway epithelial cells, resulting in a large amount of mucus in the airway, thus obstructing the respiratory tract, secondary bacterial infection, and some children may suffer from lung function damage. In the past, most of our children with RSV were under 2 years old, but now In the same year, we also treated children aged 4-6 with RSV, with cough and wheezing being typical symptoms
How to distinguish COVID-19, influenza and RSV infection? Cao Qing said that all three viruses can cause respiratory infectious diseases with similar symptoms and transmission routes. They can be transmitted through droplets, contact transmission, fever, cough, nasal congestion, runny nose and other symptoms. They can also be detected by antigen or nucleic acid. But these viruses have slight differences in some symptoms, Influenza is mainly a respiratory infection caused by influenza A or B viruses. Compared to the common cold, it causes fever and is mainly high fever, usually between 39 and 40 ℃. Patients generally experience more severe muscle soreness than the common cold, such as severe muscle soreness. The common cold does not always show significant fatigue or muscle soreness. RSV may not always be accompanied by a high fever, but it can cause fever in children and can Symptoms of sneezing and nasal congestion appear. In older children and adults, the symptoms of RSV are very similar to those of the common cold. Young children and elderly people with potential health issues who are infected with RSV generally experience symptoms such as difficulty breathing and shortness of breath