RS Virus: Recognizing Symptoms and When to Seek Medical Help for Children

02 dec 2023 om 05:26

Stuffy babies, coughing children with fever and lots of snot: the RS virus is prevalent and the hospitals are full of little ones with this virus who needed some air quickly. How do you recognize the RS virus and when do you need to go to the hospital?

The RS virus is the most common cold virus in children and is currently peaking. This happens every year between November and March, says Lissy de Ridder, pediatrician and chairman of the Dutch Association for Pediatrics.

Children with RS have a cold, cough a lot and may suffer from shortness of breath, fever, pneumonia or ear infection.

Almost all children contract it in their first year. The RS virus is harmless for most children, but some young children are seriously affected by it.

Very young babies who are short of breath can develop pneumonia, become dehydrated and end up in the hospital. There they receive extra oxygen and usually recover quickly.

The virus often hits the youngest the hardest, De Ridder explains: the airways are still very small and inflammation immediately takes a major toll on their body. Due to the shortness of breath, they sometimes cannot drink properly from the breast or bottle, and so they miss their feedings. This can cause them to become dehydrated. In the hospital they sometimes receive extra nutrition through a nasogastric tube.

What are the complaints?

Sometimes the complaints are worse:

shortness of breath fever pneumonia ear infection

What can you do as a parent?

Keep a close eye on young children and especially babies if they have a cold.

If your child is short of breath, it is difficult to miss, says the youth doctor. “As a parent, you don’t have to be afraid of that. Your child is much less active and is not drinking well. These are also signs of shortness of breath if you cannot see it well in breathing.”

Call the GP or GP post if your child:

becomes short of breath, becomes drowsy, is younger than three months old and has a fever, is younger than one year old and does not drink well.

You help your child by giving him something to drink more often. You can also give paracetamol in a suppository.

The annual peak comes a little earlier than normal this year, and hospitals are currently full of children who have contracted the RS virus, the Dutch Association for Pediatrics says.

“It just works,” says De Ridder. “This is because we transfer children to other regions and therefore always make room for new children who arrive at night and in the evening. We have to be critical of what is really needed. We let children who have recovered reasonably well, in consultation with parents, go a little earlier. Normally we would prefer to keep them for another day.”

2023-12-02 04:26:59
#virus #peaks #pay #attention #NU.nl