The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), discovered in 1956, is capable of causing a broad spectrum of illnesses. People develop antibodies against the virus after an infection, it appears the virus can re-infect people throughout their lives. Symptoms of reinfection are usually milder than those of the initial infection.
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Older children and adults commonly experience a “bad cold” lasting 1-2 weeks. Fever, nasal congestion, and cough are their most common complaints. However, in babies and toddlers, RSV can produce severe pulmonary diseases, including bronchiolitis (inflammation of the terminal airways that produces wheezing) and pneumonia (infection of these terminal airways).
RSV is a highly contagious viral infection that is most prevalent during the winter season.
Both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 are highly contagious respiratory infections, but they are unrelated.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can infect people of any age. Serious infections can occur in people who are young or old or who have weakened immune systems for example:
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- Premature infants and all infants less than 1 year of age
- Children 2 years old with cardiac disease or chronic lung disease
- Adults aged 65 years and older
Most children who develop an RSV infection have mild symptoms of fever, nasal congestion, nasal discharge, and cough.
- High-risk groups are more likely to have a more severe disease process, including wheezing (bronchiolitis in infants) and/or pneumonia. Such high-risk groups include premature infants, those children with a compromised immune system, or those with chronic pulmonary disease or congenital/acquired cardiac disease.
- There is no RSV vaccine.
Common symptoms of Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV
- The symptoms in most infants are similar to those of a bad cold. These include fever, prominent runny nose, cough, and nasal congestion.
- The duration of these symptoms is 1-2 weeks. During their first RSV infection, some babies and young children also have signs and symptoms of bronchiolitis or pneumonia.
- Bronchiolitis (inflammation of the terminal airways restricts airflow and may produce wheezing).
The majority of children hospitalized for RSV infection are under 6 months of age. The need for supplemental oxygen, IV fluids, and pulmonary inhalation therapy are the most common indicators for hospitalization. If wheezing causes an infant’s respiratory rate to increase substantially, they may have a difficult time taking in adequate fluids and become dehydrated.
Following childhood, RSV may cause repeated infections with moderate-to-severe cold-like symptoms although severe lower respiratory tract disease (pneumonia and/or wheezing) may occur with RSV at any age.
Severe symptoms of Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV
Severe infections in children can cause respiratory problems that require hospitalization. RSV is one of the leading causes of death in children younger than one year worldwide. Symptoms appear 2-8 days after exposure and are similar to those of a common cold, including:
- Stuffy and/or runny nose
- Sore throat
- Low-grade fever or no fever
- Cough
- Watery eyes or lachrymation
- Sneezing
- Nasal stuffiness
- Mild headache
When the virus spreads to the lower respiratory tract, coughing becomes more severe and is accompanied by wheezing due to inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. Severe symptoms of RSV include:
- Severe or frequent cough
- Worsening croupy cough
- Wheezing
- Lung congestion
- Lung inflammation
- Nasal flaring
- Loss of appetite
- Low energy
- Tiredness
- Irritability, fussiness, or crankiness
- Decreased activity
- Otitis media (middle ear infections)
- Apnea and tachypnea (short, shallow, and rapid breathing)
- Difficulty breathing
- Gasping for breath
- Rattling in the chest that may be felt over an infant’s back or chest
- Mouth, lips, and fingernails may turn bluish due to lack of oxygen
- Signs of dehydration, such as a dry mouth, crying without tears, and urinating less often
RSV can cause lower respiratory tract diseases like bronchiolitis or pneumonia and respiratory failure in severe cases. These symptoms are usually very rare and only seen in more severe infections, such as pneumonia or bronchiolitis. If your child exhibits any of these symptoms, you should see a doctor immediately. An RSV infection can be particularly dangerous in premature infants or those with heart, lung, or immune system problems. RSV-related bronchiolitis can coexist with a urinary tract infection in newborns, so blood and urine tests may be required.
Most children recover in 1-2 weeks, though some may experience intermittent wheezing. Infections that are severe or life-threatening necessitate an extended hospital stay.
Is Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV infection contagious?
What is the incubation period?
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is highly contagious.
- The RSV incubation period (time between exposure and development of symptoms) is 2-8 days.
- It spreads via respiratory secretions through close contact with infected people or contact with contaminated surfaces or objects.
- Infection can occur when infectious particles contact mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, or nose) and possibly through the inhalation of droplets generated by a sneeze or cough.
- Those who develop RSV are contagious during the first 3-8 days of their illness.
- RSV can live for many hours on common household objects (furniture, keyboard, pen/pencil, spoon, tabletops etc).
As such, disease transmission may be indirect by hand to mouth after touching such contaminated surfaces. This mode of transmission is especially common between infants and toddlers.
When does RSV infection occur, and who gets it?
Infection with RSV is seasonal. In temperate climates, RSV infections usually occur during the late fall, winter, or early spring months.
- Annual community outbreaks of RSV infection often last 4-5 months.
- The winter season (November through April) tends to be most likely to experience RSV epidemic disease.
- For unknown reasons, the severity of illness and frequency of disease often alternate on an annual basis. For example, a “bad” year (a large number of patients with moderately severe disease) is followed by a “good” year (fewer number of patients with less severe disease).
More than half of all infants are exposed to RSV by their first birthday. Many have few or mild symptoms. However, some babies with RSV become very ill. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants and children under 1 year of age.
Since an initial RSV infection does not trigger a robust long-term immune system response, after childhood, RSV may cause repeated infections throughout life.
Who is at risk for severe disease?
- premature infants and all infants less than 1 year of age,
- children 2 years old with cardiac disease or chronic lung disease (for example, asthma, cystic fibrosis, etc.),
- those of any age with a compromised immune system,
- People 65 years of age or older.
High-risk adults may experience more severe symptoms due to lower respiratory tract involvement. However, an RSV infection can lead to hospitalization in adults older than 50 years and in people who have underlying medical conditions. Although it is commonly thought of as a disease in children, RSV infections cause significant illness and death in older adults every year.
Diagnose Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV
Health care professionals make a diagnosis of RSV infection using a number of different laboratory tests, including:
- isolation of the virus, detection of viral antigens,
- detection of viral RNA,
- demonstration of a rise in serum antibodies, or
- a combination of these approaches.
Most clinical laboratories use nasal swab tests based on antigen detection to diagnose RSV infection. This technique is 80%-90% reliable.
PCR) is more reliable and is replacing the antigen-detecting test.
Allopathic treatment for Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV
According to allopath’s, more children with mild RSV disease, no specific treatment is necessary other than the treatment of symptoms (such as acetaminophen to reduce fever). Because RSV infection is a viral illness and there is no any anti viral for RSV; while antibiotic therapy will not be helpful.
Children with more severe disease may require supplemental oxygen and sometimes mechanical ventilation (respiratory support via a breathing machine). Health care providers may use ribavirin aerosol in the treatment of some hospitalized patients with severe disease.
Some investigators have used a combination of intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) with high titers of neutralizing RSV antibody (RSV-IVIG) and ribavirin to treat patients with compromised immune systems.
Some pediatrics against nebulizer (inhalation) therapy employing albuterol, steroids, or hypertonic (highly concentrated) saline.
Is there an RSV vaccine?
Receiving the vaccine or having the disease does not ensure lifelong protective immunity against pertussis. Immunity to the bacteria decreases after five to 10 years following administration of the vaccine or take a dose of “Pertussinum, Variolium or Mephitis or Drosera or Heper Sulphuricum or Antimuonium Tartaricum” in high i.e. 10M or CM”- single dose every or alternate year.
What is the prognosis of an RSV infection?
Most babies and toddlers tolerate an RSV infection well. Unless they require supplemental oxygen or are at risk for dehydration, they can receive any necessary respiratory support.
Homeopathic treatment for Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV
Ambra Gresia
Asthmatic breathing with eructation of gas. Nervous, spasmodic cough, with hoarseness and eructation, on waking in morning; worse in presence of people. Tickling in throat, larynx and trachea, chest oppressed, gets out of breath when coughing. Hollow, spasmodic, barking cough, coming from deep in chest. Choking when hawking up phlegm. Palpitation, with pressure in chest as from a lump lodged there, Palpitation in open air with pale face.
Kalium Bichromicum
Voice hoarse; worse, evening. Metallic, hacking cough. Profuse, yellow expectoration, very glutinous and sticky, coming out in long, stringy, and very tenacious mass. Tickling in larynx. Catarrhal laryngitis cough has a brassy sound. True membranous croup, extending to larynx and nares. Cough, with pain in sternum, extending to shoulders; worse when undressing. Pain at bifurcation of trachea on coughing; from mid-sternum to back.
Arsenic Album
Asthma worse midnight. Burning in chest. Suffocative catarrh. Cough worse after midnight; worse lying on back. Expectoration scanty, frothy. Darting pain through upper third of right lung. Wheezing respiration. Hemoptysis with pain between shoulders; burning heat all over. Cough dry.
Throat: Swollen, oedematous, constricted, burning, unable to swallow. Diphtheritic membrane, looks dry and wrinkled.
Drosera Rotundfolia
Affects markedly the respiratory organs and is the principal remedy for whooping-cough. Drosera can break down resistance to tubercle. Phthisis pulmonal; vomiting of food from coughing with gastric irritation and profuse expectoration. Spasmodic, dry irritative cough, whooping cough. yellow expectoration, with bleeding from nose and mouth, laryngitis. Rough, scraping sensation deep in the faucet and soft palate.
Causticum
Hoarseness with pain in chest; aphonia. Larynx sore. Cough, with raw soreness of chest. Expectoration scanty; must be swallowed. Cough with pain in hip, especially left worse in evening; better, drinking cold water; worse, warmth of bed. Sore streak down trachea. Mucus under sternum, which he cannot quite reach. Pain in chest, with palpitation. Cannot lie down at night. Voice re-echoes. Own voice roars in ears and distresses. Difficulty of voice of singers and public speakers.
Sambucus Nigra
Chest oppressed with pressure in stomach, and nausea Hoarseness with tenacious mucus in larynx. Paroxysmal, suffocative cough, coming on about midnight, with crying and dyspnea. Spasmodic croup. Dry coryza. Sniffles of infants; nose dry and obstructed. Loose choking cough. When nursing child must let go of nipple, nose blocked up, cannot breathe. Child awakes suddenly, nearly suffocating, sits up, turns blue. Cannot expire. Millar’s asthma.
Dry heat while sleeping. Dreads uncovering. Profuse sweat over entire body during waking hours. Dry, deep cough precedes the fever paroxysm.
Pulsatilla Pratensis
Capricious hoarseness; comes and goes. Dry cough in evening and at night; must sit up in bed to get relief; and loose cough in the morning, with copious mucous expectoration. Pressure upon the chest and soreness. Great soreness of epigastrium. Urine emitted with cough. Pain as from ulcer in middle of chest. Expectoration bland, thick, bitter, greenish. Short breath, anxiety, and palpitation when lying on left side. Smothering sensation on lying down.
Pertussinum
Taken from the glairy and stringy mucus containing the virus of whooping-cough. Introduced by John H. Clarke for the treatment of whooping-cough and other spasmodic coughs.
Conium Maculate
Dry hacking cough, almost continuous; worse, evening and at night, when lying down, talking or laughing, and during pregnancy. Expectoration only after long coughing.
The patient has a cough at night on lying down. They are restless at night and tend to sit up many times due to coughing spells. A tickling sensation in the throat pit may be prominently present. A few individuals may complain of an unusually dry spot in the larynx. In some cases, a headache on coughing may arise.
Hydrocyanicum Acidum
Noisy and agitated breathing. Dry, spasmodic, suffocative cough. Asthma, with contraction of throat. Whooping-cough. Paralysis of lungs. Marked cyanosis; venously congested lung.
Cina Maritima
Gagging cough in the morning. Whooping-cough. Violent recurring paroxysms, as of down in throat. Cough ends in a spasm. Cough so violent as to bring tears and sternal pains; feels as if something had been torn off. Periodic; returning spring and fall. Swallows after coughing. Gurgling from throat to stomach after coughing. Child is afraid to speak or move for fear of bringing on paroxysm of coughing. After coughing, moaning, anxious, gasps for air and turns pale.
Light chill. Much fever, associated with clean tongue. Much hunger; colicky pains; chilliness, with thirst. Cold sweat on forehead, nose, and hands.
Spongia Tosta
A remedy especially marked in the symptoms of the respiratory organs, cough, croup, thyroid gland swollen. stitches and dryness in throat, burning stinging and sore throat etc. Tickling causes cough. Clears throat constantly. Laryngeal phthisis. Goiter.
Great dryness of all air-passages. Hoarseness; larynx dry, burns, constricted. Cough, dry, barking, croupy; larynx sensitive to touch. Croup; worse, during inspiration and before midnight. Respiration short, panting, difficult; feeling of a plug in larynx. Cough abates after eating or drinking, especially warm drinks. Wheezing asthmatic cough, worse cold air and lying, head low and in warm, with profuse expectoration and suffocation. Oppression and heat of chest.
Swelling and induration of glands; also exophthalmic; cervical glands swollen with tensive pain on turning head, painful on pressure; Goiter. Itching; measles.
Corallium Rubrum
whooping and spasmodic coughs, especially when the attack comes on with a very rapid cough, and the attacks follow so closely as to almost run into each other. Often preceded by sensation of smothering, followed by exhaustion. Profuse, nasal catarrh. Cough that results from PND (post nasal dripping). Hawking of profuse mucus. Throat very sensitive, especially to air.
The cough appears in quick, short attacks that follow each other in quick succession, hysterical cough. Dry, spasmodic, suffocative cough; very rapid cough, short, barking, whooping-cough. Extreme exhaustion is felt along with the cough. A vital symptom that attends the above symptoms are extremely sensitive air passages to air (inhaled air feels cold).
Millifolium
Millifolium is an antiviral medicine. Cough with bloody sputa or in any lung disease with accompanying cough. Shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, oppression of chest. Hemoptysis after injury or following violent exertion.
Pulsatilla Nigricans
Capricious hoarseness. Dry cough in evening and at night; must sit up in bed to get relief; and loose cough in the morning, with copious mucous expectoration. Expectoration bland, thick, bitter, greenish. Short breath, anxiety, and palpitation when lying on left side.
Phosphorus
Cough from tickling in throat; worse, cold air, reading, laughing, talking, from going from warm room into cold air. Sweetish taste while coughing. Hard, dry, tight, racking cough. Congestion of lungs. Burning pains, frothy or blood-stained sputum. The phlegm may be salty or sweet to taste. Strong odors may trigger a cough. Pneumonia, with oppression.
Bryonia Alba
Soreness in larynx and trachea. Hoarseness; worse in open air. Dry, hacking cough from irritation in upper trachea. Cough, dry, at night; must sit up; worse after eating or drinking, with vomiting, with stitches in chest, and expectoration of rust-colored sputa. Frequent desire to take a long breath; must expand lungs. Difficult, quick respiration; worse every movement; caused by stitches in chest. Cough, with feeling as if chest would fly to pieces; presses his head on sternum; must support chest. Croupous and pleuro-pneumonia. Expectoration brick shade, tough, and falls like lumps of jelly. Tough mucus in trachea, loosened only with much hawking. Coming into warm room excites cough. Heaviness beneath the sternum extending towards the right shoulder. Cough worse by going into warm room.
Throat: Dryness, sticking on swallowing, scraped and constricted. Tough mucus in larynx and trachea, loosened only after much hawking; worse coming into warm room.
Sambucus Nigra
Hoarseness with tenacious mucus in larynx. Paroxysmal, suffocative cough, coming on about midnight, with crying and dyspnea. Spasmodic croup. Dry coryza. Sniffles of infants; nose dry and obstructed. Loose choking cough. When nursing child must let go of nipple, nose blocked up, cannot breathe. Child awakes suddenly, nearly suffocating, sits up, turns blue. Cannot expire. Millar’s asthma.
Moschus
Tightness of chest, is obliged to take a deeper breath. Sudden constriction of larynx and trachea. Difficult respiration; chest oppressed; hysterical spasm of chest; asthma. Spasm of glottis. Impending paralysis of lungs. Asthma, with intense anxiety, fear, and smothering sensation. Cough ceases, mucus cannot be expectorated. Globus hystericus.
Mephitis Putorius
Sudden contraction of glottis, when drinking or talking. Food goes down wrong way. False croup; cannot exhale. Spasmodic and whooping-cough. Few paroxysms in day-time, but many at night; with vomiting after eating. Asthma, as if inhaling Sulphur; cough from talking; hollow, deep, with rawness, hoarseness, and pains through chest. Violent spasmodic cough; worse at night.
Senega
Hoarseness. Hurts to talk. Bursting pain in back on coughing. Catarrh of larynx. Loss of voice. Hacking cough. Thorax feels too narrow. Cough often ends in a sneeze. Rattling in chest. Chest oppressed on ascending. Bronchial catarrh, with sore chest walls; much mucus; sensation of oppression and weight of chest. Difficult raising of tough, profuse mucus, in the aged. Asthenic bronchitis of old people with chronic interstitial nephritis or chronic emphysema. Old asthmatics with congestive attacks. Exudations in Pleura. Hydrothorax. Pressure on chest as though lungs were forced back to spine. Voice unsteady, vocal cords partially paralyzed.
Throat: Catarrhal inflammation of throat and faucets, with scraping hoarseness. Burning and rawness. Sensation as if membrane had been abraded.
Mercurius Sulphuricus
Throat. Heat and sensation of constriction in throat. Dryness of tongue and throat. Burning in mouth and throat. Respiratory Organs. Roughness in throat and hoarseness. Sensation of heat in larynx. Increased expectoration of mucus from larynx” and trachea. Dyspnea; in children; hydrothorax.
Coccus Cacti
Constant hawking from enlarged uvula; coryza, with inflamed faucets; accumulation of thick viscid mucus, which is expectorated with great difficulty. Tickling in larynx. Sensation of a crumb behind larynx, must swallow continually; brushing teeth causes cough. Faucets very sensitive. Suffocative cough; worse, first waking, with tough, white mucus, which strangles. Spasmodic morning cough. Whooping cough attacks end with vomiting of this tough mucus. Chronic bronchitis complicated with gravel; large quantities of aluminous, tenacious mucus, are expectorated. Walking against wind takes breath away.
Bromium
Whooping cough (Use persistently for about ten days). Dry cough, with hoarseness and burning pain behind sternum. Spasmodic cough, with rattling of mucus in the larynx; suffocative. Hoarseness. Croup after febrile symptoms have subsided. Difficult and painful breathing. Violent cramping of chest. Chest pains run upward. Cold sensation when inspiring. Every inspiration provokes cough. Laryngeal diphtheria, membrane begins in larynx and spreads upward. Spasmodic constriction. Asthma; difficulty in getting air into lung. Better at sea, of seafaring men when they come on land. Hypertrophy of heart from gymnastics. Fibrinous bronchitis, great dyspnea. Bronchial tubes feel filled with smoke.
Nux Vomica
Catarrhal hoarseness, with scraping in throat. Spasmodic constriction. Asthma, with fullness in stomach, morning or after eating. Cough, with sensation as if something were torn loose in chest. Shallow respiration. Oppressed breathing. Tight, dry hacking cough; at times with bloody expectoration. Cough brings on bursting headache and bruised pain in epigastric region.
Throat: Rough, scraped feeling. Tickling after waking in morning. Sensation of roughness, tightness, and tension. Pharynx constricted. Uvula swollen. Stitches into ear.
Rumex Crispus
Nose dry. Tickling in throat-pit causes cough. Copious mucous discharge from nose and trachea. Dry, teasing cough, preventing sleep. Aggravated by pressure, talking, and especially by inspiring cool air and at night. Thin, watery, frothy expectoration by the mouthful: later, stringy and tough. Rawness of larynx and trachea. Soreness behind sternum, especially left side, in region of left shoulder. Raw pain under clavicle. Lump in throat.
Dulcamara
Cough worse cold, wet weather, with free expectoration, tickling in larynx. Cough, hoarse, spasmodic. Whooping-cough, with excessive secretion of mucus. Winter coughs, dry, teasing. Asthma with dyspnea. Loose, rattling cough; worse wet weather. Must cough a long time to expel phlegm. Cough after physical exertion.
Dry coryza. Complete stoppage of nose. Stuffs up when there is a cold rain. Thick, yellow mucus, bloody crusts. Profuse coryza. Wants nose kept warm, least cold air stops the nose. Coryza of the new born.
Belladonna
Drying in nose, faucet, larynx, and trachea. Tickling, short, dry cough; worse at night. Larynx feels sore. Respiration oppressed, quick, unequal. Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Hoarse; loss of voice. Painless hoarseness. Cough with pain in left hip. Barking cough, whooping cough, with pain in stomach before attack, with expectoration of blood. Stitches in chest when coughing. Larynx very painful; feels as if a foreign body were in it, with cough. High, piping voice. Moaning at every breath.
Throat dry, as if glazed; angry-looking congestion; red, worse on right side. Tonsils enlarged; throat feels constricted; difficult deglutition; worse, liquids. Sensation of a lump. Esophagus dry; feels contracted. Spasms in throat. Continual inclination to swallow. Scraping sensation. Muscles of deglutition very sensitive. Hypertrophy of mucous membrane.
Chamomilla
Hoarseness, hawking, rawness of larynx. Irritable, dry, tickling cough; suffocative tightness of chest, with bitter expectoration in daytime. Rattling of mucus in child’s chest. Parotid and submaxillary glands swollen. Constriction and pain.
Viola Odorata
Pneumonia. Viral pneumonia. Dry short spasmodic cough and dyspnea; worse in daytime. Oppression of chest. Pertussis, with hoarseness. Dyspnea during pregnancy. Difficult breathing, anxiety and palpitation, with hysteria.
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