Wholly Healthy: It’s RSV Season

Edwin Leap

Edwin Leap

Edwin Leap is an emergency physician and writer from Walhalla. Read more at EdwinLeap.com

I remember that call night so well. I was a first-year emergency medicine resident at Methodist Hospital of Indiana in 1991. I was on my pediatrics rotation. It was cold and flu season in Indianapolis.

In that one night, the pediatrics resident and I admitted about 55 children to the hospital — all of them with “respiratory syncytial virus.” That’s right, they had RSV. It made the children wheeze, cough and breathe rapidly, requiring oxygen. Their little noses required suction (they don’t understand “sniff” or “blow.”) They became dehydrated as well, requiring fluids. By morning, we were giddy and exhausted. You don’t forget times like that.

I say this to point out that RSV is not a new phenomenon. It has likely been a part of human life for eons. Unlike COVID, which was termed a “novel’”coronavirus, unseen before, RSV is a yearly visitor.

Most seasons it is more of a problem for infants and toddlers, but this year RSV has welcomed people of all ages. It has not only afflicted infants and small children but it has hit the elderly population with particular ferocity. Our family has experienced this as my wife’s father was hospitalized for several days requiring breathing treatments and oxygen. He survived two weeks on the ventilator with COVID, so he has since spit in the eye of RSV and is home doing well.

Healthy adults with RSV typically have a bad cold. However, this means that when we have a cold, we should be particularly careful not to be in unnecessary proximity to the very young, the very old or those already ill for various reasons.

RSV testing is available, but not necessary for most healthy adults with mild symptoms. There are now two vaccines for the prevention of RSV in those age 60 and older. Vaccines and therapies for pregnant mothers and small children are also on the market.

Before long, winter will abate and take RSV with it. Until then, be careful, but don’t fret. As far as the house of medicine, “this ain’t our first rodeo” with RSV. (https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/clinical/index.html)