According to a recent study, the respiratory disease RSV kills 1 in 50 children under the age of five, especially in low- and middle-income nations.
RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a concern in high-income countries as well. According to the study, which was published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 1 in 56 otherwise healthy newborns in those nations are hospitalised with RSV during their first year of life.
9154 newborns who received care at hospitals around Europe between July 1, 2017, and July 31, 2020 had their medical records examined by researchers. The focus of earlier research has been infants with pre-existing illnesses, whereas this study focused on youngsters who are generally healthy.
According to CNN, research co-author Louis Bont, MD, a professor of paediatric infectious diseases at Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, “the numbers are really considerably higher than I believe some people would have imagined.” “This baby is being hospitalised for the lowest-risk reason possible.” He is also the founder of the ReSViNET foundation, which aims to reduce RSV infection globally.
Over 97% of RSV-related fatalities, according to the paper, occur in low- and middle-income countries. The study’s conclusions state that maternal immunisation and passive immunisation “may significantly affect the RSV load.”
Because they have access to ventilators and other medical supplies, children with RSV in wealthier countries often survive. However, according to Kristina Deeter, MD, chair of paediatrics at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, even RSV treatment alone can be harmful to a child’s health over time.
She added of the findings, “It can harm your lungs forever.” You can acquire asthma later on, for instance, if you’ve had a really serious infection at a young age, whether that is just traumatic psychological, emotional troubles following hospitalisation, or even having more vulnerable lungs. We continue to pay close attention to this virus since it is still a major threat to our ecosystem.
Days after the CDC alerted public health officials that respiratory viruses, including RSV, are on the rise among kids nationwide, the Lancet study was released.
