Due to the lockdown and the one and a half meter rule, the RS virus has not been able to spread this winter and therefore no group protection has arisen. And now that those rules have been released, the babies born from their mothers have been given no protection against the virus. “That is why there are now a lot of children who are at risk of a serious infection,” says Bont.
The pediatrician doesn’t think this outbreak was preventable. “No, that is really unthinkable for me. I have been researching this virus for 25 years and it is therefore something that I have thoroughly studied. But until a few weeks ago I really did not think that this was possible in the Netherlands. could happen. And besides, even if you know, there’s not much you can do about it.”
Preventing infection with the virus
There is not yet a vaccine against the virus, Bont expects that in three to five years. In the meantime, parents of very young children can try to keep the virus out by washing their hands well before contact with their child because the virus is transmitted directly through hand contact. “So you can do something, but that only works to a very limited extent in practice,” says Bont.
It is very rare that children in the Netherlands die from it. “In the Netherlands we are able to get the children through with the beautiful intensive care units that we have, and we almost always succeed,” says Bont.
In the Netherlands, approximately 2000 children end up in hospital every year because of an infection with the RS virus. 150 to 200 of them have to go to the intensive care unit to be put on a ventilator.
“In other parts of the world, where there are no intensive care units, and unfortunately there are in most places in the world, these children die from the RS virus. And it is therefore the second leading cause of death in the world among infants,” says Bont.
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