A "Nasty Bug"

"[Many pregnant women were sheltering in place during the pandemic meaning they were less likely to be exposed to RSV -- respiratory syncytial virus --], and thus less likely to boost their RSV antibodies to levels usually seen in the winter."

"This raises a possibility that infants are less protected than usual and could become sicker if they are infected this summer."

"[Since COVID-19 began, world infection status of RSV has been impacted where many countries have seen a] near total disappearance of RSV."

"[As pandemic restricts are lifted a rebound of RSV is assured, an off-season resurgence that] potentially poses a threat to vulnerable infants."

Research study, Canadian Medical Association Journal

Infants under one year old are more likely to experience severe RSV infections requiring hospitalization.

 

Australia and South Africa have both seen a marked rise in RSV cases, with summer surges that are more typical during a winter season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United
States issued a health advisory cautioning of "increased inter-seasonal" RSV activity throughout the southern U.S. Broader testing for the virus is recommended for children and older adults with symptoms of an acute respiratory illness testing negative for SARS-CoV-2, the COVID virus.

The vast majority of healthy children are known to shake off the symptoms of respiratory syncytial virus, yet there are some cases severe enough that the infection can be life-threatening. Congestion results in fragile babies requiring intensive care and the support of ventilators. With the appearance of COVID-19 and the resulting precautions against infection, a "near total disappearance of RSV" was seen in most countries, as well as exceptionally diminished cases of influenza.

Runny nose, fever, cough and wheezing are among the common symptoms of RSV, the leading cause of bronchiolitis, congestion of the small airways in the lungs. Children tend to be fussy and irritable. The virus poses a special threat to high-risk children under age two. With no vaccine, premature babies and those with "sick hearts or sick lungs" are under special threat, advised Dr.Pascal Lavoie, neonatologist at Women's Hospital in British Columbia; clinician scientist at B.C. Children's Hospital Research Institute.

 

In May of 2020, 18,860 cases of RSV were reported in Canada, while a year later 239 positive cases were identified. The usual season for RSV is late fall to early spring yet "for months we have seen zero cases every week in many jurisdictions", wrote the authors of the CMAJ commentary. Up to a 98 percent reduction in RSV cases have been reported from around the globe; "an unexpected positive outcome" of masking and social distancing, doctors at a Brooklyn, New York hospital recently wrote in the journal Pediatrics.

 

Antibodies passed from mothers, antibodies that wane within six months are what newborns depend upon for protection against the malaise, and since many pregnant women were sheltering in place during pandemic lockdowns, they were less exposed to the virus and consequently so were their babies. A dramatic spike in severe cases of RSV in the first four months of 2021 alarmed Australia. In Britain, health officials cautioned parents to be alert for symptoms.

 

More severe disease in younger infants is showing up in New York City. Closures of daycares and virtual schooling possibly resulted in less spread of the disease to older children, according to the authors of the Pediatrics study. In Canada, RSV programs where  high-risk children are given preventive treatment -- monoclonal antibody -- the programs were "paused, shortened and even suspended", while cases appeared to disappear.

"I remember the long nights in hospital when my eight-week-old daughter fought off RSV."

"The image of her tiny body plugged into those machines and gasping for air will not leave me. I would not wish those moments for anyone."

"I urge all parents and carers to be alert to the signs of RSV, particularly among young children. It's a nasty bug, so watch out for it."

British Health Minister James Bethell