Respiratory syncytial virus

Taking care of a child is a very difficult thing, and taking care of a very small one is even more difficult. The reason why it is difficult is that children's bodies are in the development stage, all their organs are very immature, and they have very few antibodies against viruses, so children are very susceptible to illness. Sometimes your child may get sick without you noticing, and it’s not your fault at all. Common children's diseases include pneumonia, and the culprit causing pneumonia is most likely the respiratory syncytial virus.

When it comes to respiratory syncytial virus, everyone may feel unfamiliar because they don’t usually learn about this aspect. However, this virus is closely related to our lives, and it especially likes to attack infants and young children, causing bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. in infants and young children. So, what exactly is respiratory syncytial virus?

Respiratory syncytial virus is an RNA virus belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae. The disease is transmitted through airborne droplets and close contact. It is more common in newborns and infants under 6 months old. The incubation period is 3 to 7 days. Infants and young children have more severe symptoms, including high fever, rhinitis, pharyngitis and laryngitis, which may later manifest as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. A small number of children may develop complications such as otitis media, pleurisy and myocarditis. In adults and older children, infection mainly presents as upper respiratory tract infection. The diagnosis can be confirmed by isolating the virus and performing serum complement fixation and neutralization tests. The use of immunofluorescence technology to examine viral antigens in nasopharyngeal secretions can be used for rapid diagnosis. Treatment is mainly supportive and symptomatic. Antibiotics can be used to treat secondary bacterial infection. Prevention is the same as other viral respiratory infections.

After being infected with respiratory syncytial virus, special attention should be paid to general treatment, attention should be paid to isolation, and efforts should be made to prevent secondary bacterial or other viral infections. If there is no secondary bacterial infection, only traditional Chinese medicine treatment is needed. For general treatment, please refer to the section on bronchopneumonia, and for others, please refer to the section on adenovirus pneumonia. Since the disease is relatively mild, there is no need for so much symptomatic and supportive therapy.

Regarding antiviral chemical drugs, more serious cases can be treated with triazole ribavirin nebulization. Please refer to the previous volume for an overview of viral infectious diseases. Recently, some people abroad have used short-term, high-dose nebulization to effectively treat syncytial virus infection. In addition, in recent years, Shanghai Xinhua Hospital has used whey liquid (colostrum dilution) nebulization to treat syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infections, and Wenzhou Medical College has extracted SIgA from colostrum for nebulization inhalation to treat respiratory syncytial virus pneumonia, which has achieved good results and can be applied.

The disease is generally mild. Simple cases recover clinically in 6 to 10 days, and X-ray shadows usually disappear in 2 to 3 weeks. If the isolation measures are not effective, secondary infection is likely to occur and fever may occur again. Death from simple syncytial virus pneumonia is rare.

Although we may be unfamiliar with respiratory syncytial virus, it is not unfamiliar to our human body. To exaggerate a little, respiratory syncytial virus can be said to be always around us, looking for a breakthrough at any time, ready to invade our bodies and cause us harm. Therefore, we must take preventive measures in our daily lives and strictly ensure the survival and safety of ourselves and our families.