"Kids' Health" supplement in the October 18-20, 2002 weekend edition of USA Today

RSV: A SERIOUS THREAT TO INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Perhaps you've never heard of respiratory synctial virus (RSV), but here's a startling fact: it is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children and the leading cause of hospitalization for infants younger than one year. Each year, RSV disease results in more than 125,000 hospitalizations, and about 2 percent of these infants die.

Most children are infected with RSV during the first year of life and almost all have been infected by age two. In most healthy infants, the virus causes symptoms resembling those of the common cold, such as fever and runny nose. However, in certain high-risk pediatric patients, RSV infection may cause serious lower respiratory tract disease.

Children at high risk for developing RSV disease are infants born prematurely or with chronic lung disease. Children born prematurely often have underdeveloped lungs and many have not received enough antibodies from their mother to help them fight off RSV disease once they have been exposed to it. High-risk children who are infected with RSV disease often need to be hospitalized.

The RSV virus is highly contagious, and RSV disease occurs most often during the months from fall through spring. If you are a parent of a high-risk child, you should follow these steps to help your baby stay free of RSV:

• Always wash your hands with warm water and soap just before holding your baby, and make certain that relatives and other care-givers do the same.
• Minimize contact with your baby if you have a cold or a fever.
• Try to keep older brothers and sisters away from the baby as much as possible, especially if they have a runny nose, cold or fever.
• Do not take the baby out to crowded areas such as shopping centers.
• Do not smoke around the baby

RSV disease may progress very quickly, so it is very important to take all precautions and to consult your pediatrician at the earliest onset of RSV symptoms. Although there is no specific treatment for RSV infection, infants at high risk may require medication to help prevent serious RSV disease.