Several young children are currently hospitalized with breathing problems due to RSV.
–
–
If the flu virus has absolutely not circulated this winter because of measures related to coronavirus, RSV is emerging. This disease, which usually spreads from October to March, was also very discreet during the cold months but is now starting to circulate more extensively, explain the group’s media. Mediahuis.
As Sciensano explains, RSV “Respiratory Syncytial Virus” is a virus that causes a respiratory infection that is very common in infants, but which can occur at any age. The virus affects the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat) and is highly contagious. And Sciensano even speaks of an epidemic, because the milestone of 214 positive tests in one week has been exceeded recently. There were 15 hospitalizations per 100,000 children aged 0 to 4 years.
Marc Raes, president of the Belgian association of pediatricians, specifies that, fortunately, “the exponential curve that we feared is currently not relevant”. But the virus is circulating in a major way.
Parents with young children therefore have every interest in being attentive, especially if their little ones go to nursery: “It can start very discreetly: a child who drinks a little less, then a runny nose, then suddenly having difficulty breathing, ”explains Marc Raes. “If you’re worried, go to your pediatrician. The younger your child, the more careful you have to be ”.
Unlike the coronavirus, which usually causes only rare symptoms in children, RSV can have serious consequences: “Infants and young children can become more seriously ill from RSV than from coronavirus,” concludes Marc Raes.
So be careful.
– .
