Lydia Ip’s two-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at least four times since daycare began in March, she said.
Her daughter’s last infection on Oct. 17 resulted in her spending several days at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in Vaughan, Ontario. RSV, a common childhood infection, affects the lungs and airways and usually causes cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, cough and fever.
But the virus can also cause other infections, such as pneumonia. Such was the case with Ip’s daughter, who also suffered from an ear infection and experienced a drop in her oxygen saturation to 80 percent.
“RSV actually made her sicker than COVID,” Ip told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Tuesday, referring to her daughter’s COVID-19 infection in April. “With RSV, her cough was much more severe to the point where she was throwing up… COVID didn’t bother her that much.”
Ip is one of several Canadians who have reached out to CTVNews.ca to share their children’s recent experiences with RSV. Responses sent via email have not all been independently verified.
Cases of RSV are increasing in Canada. According to the latest Respiratory Virus Report from the Public Health Agency of Canada, since early September there has been a steady increase in positive RSV tests across the country, particularly in Quebec.
“Respiratory syncytial virus activity (486 detections; 3.5% positive) is above expectations for this time of year,” the late spring report, ending Oct. 15, said.
This comes at a time when emergency departments across Canada are already struggling with long wait times and understaffing. Ip said she witnessed this firsthand when she took her daughter to the hospital last month for a previous RSV infection. A lack of available cribs meant her daughter had to wait nearly 20 hours for a bed, Ip said. In the United States, an increase in RSV cases in young children is also overwhelming children’s hospitals in Connecticut and Illinois.
According to the PHAC, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for RSV. This worries parents like Ip about what subsequent infections might look like for their children.
“There’s not much we can do other than prepare for the start [the] next [infection]’ Ip wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Oct. 24. “It’s such a stressful time as a parent, especially when you’re so nervous not knowing when the next one is coming up and how bad it’s going to be.”
“You really just have to ride it out”
Rebecca St. John of Calgary said RSV hit her youngest of three children particularly hard. In addition to coughing, her 18-month-old daughter has a fever that lasts for several days at a time, she said. On October 21, St. John’s daughter was diagnosed with RSV by her GP and was given antibiotics for her cough.
“It’s very concerning,” she told CTV News Toronto on Monday. “Ever since people have [started] take off their masks [and] The COVID restrictions have been lifted, it’s so much worse than before – the cough is worse, the runny nose is worse, the congestion is so much worse.”
Her two-year-old son was also infected with RSV, St. John said, coughing ad nauseam. St. John said she had never seen any of her children so ill.
The surge in RSV cases this year is being attributed to the introduction of fewer public health restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. From August 2020 to May 2021, PHAC recorded 239 confirmed RSV cases. This was during the time when provinces and territories across Canada had imposed lockdowns as well as mask-wearing and physical distancing measures. During the 2019-2020 season there were 18,860 confirmed RSV cases.
Lack of exposure to viruses over the past two years has left young children more vulnerable to infections, experts say.
“I think their immune systems just didn’t see the number of viruses that a typical kid would have seen before the pandemic,” said Dr. Thomas Murray, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Medicine, told CNN.
Severe cases of RSV may require hospitalization, PHAC says, where oxygen can be given to children who are struggling to breathe. However, many infections end up as the common cold and usually go away on their own after a week or two, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So far, St. John said she hasn’t had to take any of her children to the hospital, but she continues to use humidifiers and gives them Tylenol to clear their congestion.
“It’s really about making them comfortable [and] Make sure they drink their fluids,” St. John said. “Apart from that, you really have to endure it.”
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION
Monica Kapac said her son’s RSV infection came as a shock.
“I knew RSV was going to be rolling around, but … I figured we were probably through with the worst,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Tuesday.
What started as a simple cold developed into a high fever, Kapac said, along with shortness of breath, wheezing, vomiting and coughing. After taking him to Okotoks Health and Wellness Center on October 20, her 11-month-old son was diagnosed with RSV. From there he was transferred to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. A few days later, her son was discharged from the hospital and his condition has since improved, she said.
According to the CDC, the best way to relieve symptoms associated with RSV infection is by taking over-the-counter pain and fever medications, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, and drinking fluids to prevent dehydration. Right now, Kapac is giving her son Tylenol or Advil to control his fever and keeping him hydrated with plenty of fluids, she said.
Her top advice for parents is to trust their instincts when their children are sick and don’t be afraid to get them the help they need.
“Trust your gut — if something’s wrong or you’re worried about something, it’s definitely better to look,” Kapac said. “If we hadn’t included him, who knows what might have happened.”
dr Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University in Montreal, said RSV is quite contagious, much like COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.
“We’re seeing a return to what it was before the pandemic with these respiratory viruses, except it’s not just these pre-pandemic respiratory viruses — now it’s COVID, too,” Vinh told CTVNews.ca on Monday.
While the virus is common in children, adults can also contract it. Deanna Kirkbride said she now has RSV after her four-year-old son contracted the virus earlier this month. Kirkbride took her son to Englehart and District Hospital after his fever rose to 104F, where he was diagnosed with RSV on October 20. In addition to fever, he also has a double ear infection and cough.
Kirkbride said she had a mild fever herself, as well as shortness of breath and fatigue.
“When something like this hits, it hits hard,” Kirkbride told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Tuesday. “I’ve been out of work for almost two weeks now.”
Her son’s condition has since improved, Kirkbride said. She continues to give him Tylenol and Advil to control his fever and he takes antibiotics for his ear infections.
One thing Kirkbride said she hopes for the future is greater awareness of the virus and managing symptoms.
“When I posted online that I had RSV … my friends and family had no idea what it was,” Kirkbride said. “Public health should give out more information and be more open [RSV].
“They are very open about COVID [but] There are other things out there that can be just as bad.”
Featuring files from CTV National News Los Angeles Bureau chief Tom Walters, CTV National News correspondent Heather Wright, and CTVNews.ca contributors Michael Lee and Daniel Otis
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