2023-05-15 10:11:00
In Shanghai, there have been increased infections with the RS virus in the past few days. This disease, which is particularly common among children, triggers symptoms similar to those of flu and Covid-19. Experts see a connection with the end of the Covid 19 pandemic.
In recent days, numerous children in Shanghai have been infected with the human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The proportion of RSV infections has already surpassed that of Covid-19 and influenza infections. That is also due to the expansion of human activities after China downgraded the Covid-19 pandemic.
RSV causes similar symptoms to Covid-19 and influenza, including fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches. The virus has caused panic among parents in Shanghai. Many took to the internet about their children’s struggles with the disease and symptoms, including severe coughs, asthma attacks and pneumonia, the Shanghai Observer reported on Sunday.
According to Cao Qing, head of the infectious diseases department at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, the proportion of children hospitalized with RSV has surpassed that of Covid-19 and influenza, with half of the children exhibiting the symptom of wheezing.
However, the experts also cautioned that RSV can be controlled with usual treatment and that parents should not panic. People of all ages could be infected, with children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems being among the risk groups.
The incubation period of the disease is usually between two and eight days after infection. The early infection is usually limited to the upper respiratory tract and is manifested by nasal congestion, runny nose, coughing and hoarseness.
Most symptoms in children with RSV infection resolve spontaneously within one to two weeks. Only in a few cases can an infection of the lower respiratory tract occur with serious symptoms such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Such cases are most common in young children under the age of two, and in a very few cases, shortness of breath and difficulty in eating may worsen.
According to the expert, RSV can be transmitted by contact transmission or by coughing and sneezing from infected patients with or without symptoms. Thus, the disease usually appears in winter and spring, but this year mainly in April, since measures such as wearing masks during the Covid-19 epidemic late last year also prevented the spread of RSV.
In the meantime, children have developed less immunity to the virus because they were less exposed to the pathogen during the epidemic. Downgrading of Covid-19 management has resulted in increased human activity and gatherings, triggering the off-season spread of RSV, experts said.
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