What to look and what to expect for if your child may have RSV, a severe respiratory virus

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Beginning in December, local intensive care units began seeing dozens of children with respiratory syncytial virus, an illness some parents may be unfamiliar with.

So what do you need to know about the illness often called RSV?

The symptoms to look for in young children are: fever, difficulty breathing, lethargy, irritability and poor feeding.
Symptoms appear between two and eight days after a child has been infected.
There is no specific treatment for RSV. Doctors generally help children by giving them supplemental oxygen and supplemental feeding, and by suctioning secretions that can block the nasal and bronchial passages.
The virus spreads when an infected person sneezes or releases other discharges that contact the eyes, nose or mouth of an uninfected child. The virus can also spread if an infected person sneezes or releases other discharges that contaminate objects and surfaces.
People continue to shed the virus in respiratory droplets for about three to eight days, In rare cases, infants can shed the virus for as long as three to four weeks.
The best ways to prevent infection with RSV is to practice good handwashing with plenty of soap and water, sneeze into your elbows and keep countertops clean. Children with severe respiratory illnesses should not attend day care until the symptoms are completely gone.
Having experienced RSV infection in the past does not make a person immune to becoming re-infected in the future, though second infections tend to be milder.