French.china.org.cn | Updated 2022-11-17
The increase in pediatric respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and associated hospitalizations is not due to “immune debt” caused by mask-wearing and lockdown orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, but to public health failure in the United States, National Nurses United (NNU), the country’s main professional union for nurses, said on Monday.
“RSV and other respiratory viruses are significantly more serious this year due to the complete abandonment of public health measures that have helped protect people from COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses,” said NNU President Deborah Burger.
“The lack of public health protections and the impact of COVID infections, reinfections and long-term COVID likely contribute to the significant impact of RSV on children and infants. Promoting the ‘debt immune system’ idea is not only empirical, but it’s also harmful to public health,” Burger continued.
Many children have already been exposed to and infected with RSV in 2021. “In fact, RSV positivity rates were higher in 2021 than they are now in the United States,” said an NNU article titled “Increase of RSV infections not due to ‘immune debt’, but failure to protect public health”.
Furthermore, RSV infections provide only partial immunity and individuals remain susceptible to re-infection for life, the article notes.
