According to foreign media reports, some public health experts warned that after the cancellation of public health measures taken to slow the spread of COVID-19, a "off-season" peak called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, referred to as syncytial virus) appeared in parts of the southern United States. respiratory syncytial virus is usually more active in autumn and winter. According to a June 10 consultation issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for clinicians and health care workers, the peak this summer is a "deviation" from normal circumstances.
For most people, this virus can cause a typical cold, but for vulnerable people - elderly people, young children and babies with chronic diseases - the virus can lead to more serious illness. In fact, according to CDC data, it is the most common cause of bronchitis (a lung infection ) and pneumonia in children under 1 year old in the United States.
In April 2020, the number of RSV cases in the United States dropped rapidly, when public health measures were taken to combat COVID-19, and until March 2021, the cases remained low. But data now reported to the National Respiratory and Enterovirus Surveillance System show that RSV cases are rising in parts of the southern United States, including Carolina , Florida and Texas .
Similarly, according to CDC data, RSV activity increased between typical activity seasons in Australia at the end of 2020 and South Africa at the beginning of 2021.
According to a previous report by Live Science, RSV usually peaks between April and June in New South Wales, Australia, but the number of cases last year fell by more than 85% compared to the typical case. In late December 2020, RSV cases surged to 6,000 in two weeks after officials lifted COVID-19 restrictions (much higher than the hundreds reported in typical years in those weeks).
Live Science has previously reported that experts have warned for some time that the nearly disappearing seasonal virus last year could surge at unexpected times due to measures taken to combat COVID-19. Fewer exposure to seasonal viruses last year may have left a slightly vulnerable population.
"We are very worried that as we start to relax restrictions on public health measures, we will see many other viruses coming back and other diseases starting to spread, as people are more open to being together, without a sense of distance, without wearing masks," Dr. Sarah Gossa, a doctor and former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told NPR. "We hope people continue to wash their hands frequently and stay at home if they get sick."
RSV is usually transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets in coughing and sneezing and contact with contaminated surfaces. The virus can cause symptoms including runny nose, sore throat, , cough, headache, fatigue, and fever. In infants and younger children, it can cause irritability, eating or poor appetite, lethargy, apnea (pause when breathing), fever, runny nose, cough, sneezing, fever and wheezing.
CDC recommends that healthcare workers increase RSV testing in patients with symptoms of acute respiratory disease but negative COVID-19 tests.
According to the CDC, RSV causes about 58,000 hospitalizations and 100 to 500 deaths in children under the age of 5, and 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths in people over the age of 65.
