CNN
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The respiratory viruses season started early in children this year, and children’s hospitals were flooded in many parts of the country – especially with the virus of the spiral respiratory system, known as RSV.
But adults can also get RSV. Although RSV usually does not send the largest possible number Adults to the hospitalIt can be a serious and even fatal disease for the elderly and people with basic health conditions.
With more RSV children, the chances of adults may also rise. Some doctors say they have begun to see a rise in adult patients.
This season, about 6 out of 100,000 elderly were transferred to the hospital with RSV, according to data from US centers to control and prevent diseases. This is much lower than the rate of children but it is still unusual. In the years before the Covid-19s, hospital treatment rates for the elderly were about 10 times less at this stage of the season.
Dr. Ann False, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Rochester Medical University Center Research has been published On RSV for adults, RSV said somewhat for children in summer and early fall last year, but the United States did not see the usual relative increase in RSV in the elderly at that time.
“I think the elderly were more cautious to continue public health measures such as masks and social distance last year because they are still concerned about Kovide,” said Fuch. “But this year, we began to see the elderly ended up in the hospital again with RSV, because everyone is cautious on the wind.”
Often, the RSV flies under the radar in adults. Many people, even doctors, ignore its effect on adults.
“They are thinking about it as a disease for children, but you know, if you don’t test it, you will never know what someone gets sick,” said Fuch.
In the United States, viruses such as RSV are not as comprehensive as for Covid-19, so it is difficult to know the number of adults with the disease with RSV. The number of RSV cases comes from self -reports that move to a few dozen laboratories that represent only about ten population, then reports are shared with the Disease Control Center.
At the best estimates, there are between 10,000 and 15,000 adult deaths in the United States of RSV every year and about 150,000 RSV hospitals, Boch said.
Study 2015 One of the elderly people in industrial countries said that the burden of RSV disease is “large” and it is calculated that about 14.5 % of the 1.5 million adults were arrested in hospitals. People who were 65 years old or older than 50 and 64 are likely to be transferred.
“When we compare it to influenza A, it is not too late,” Poach said, referring to one of the seasonal influenza strains that are often associated with a more severe disease.
Rsv Adult appears In the same way as children. It can look like a common cold that includes runny nose, decreased appetite, cough, sneezing, fever and whistles. Symptoms usually last one or two weeks, and they are wiped with comfort and fluids.
But in some adults, RSV can become dangerous because it can lead to dehydration, breathing troubles and more serious diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and small bronchitis in the lungs.
Adults with a risk seriously at risk of severe results with RSV are 65 and above. Virus It can spread quickly Through an elderly care house or a long-term care facility, just like Covid-19 and influenza.
Adults with weak immune system need caution in the RSV season. This can include people who are undergoing cancer, implant patients and people with HIV and those who take some medications that suppress the immune system of diseases such as Crohn, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
Adults with chronic or lung heart disease, such as asthma, chronic obstruction, or heart failure, are likely to have to go to the hospital if they spend RSV.
The injured person can pass RSV through coughing or sneezing. If the respiratory drops fall on a surface like the door handle or its desk, and another person touches it and then touches his face, they can ill.
It also spreads because healthy adults often do not know they have. This usually does not cause fatigue such as influenza or Covid, because many adults will go to work or jump on a plane or bus, or raise their symptoms to allergies. Because it interacts with others, spreads more.
RSV can easily spread from children to adults as well.
Dr. Davni Dominova says you were coughing or you have other symptoms similar to RSV and you are in a high -risk category, you must go to your doctor and get it.
“We cannot test everyone at the present time – in an ideal world we want to do that – but we want to focus on weak people,” Villanueva said. assistant professor At the University of West Virginia University, which has written studies on RSV.
Doctors ’offices contain a switch test that can determine whether the disease is influenza, RSV or Covid.
There are specific anti-influenza and Covid-19 but not for RSV. The trick is tested early, even to exclude the RSV; It can start starting with antivirals immediately in Covid or influenza immediately, while you get sick, and keep the virus from progressing to something more dangerous.
With RSV, the treatment is what is called supportive care: drinking a lot of fluids. Get some real comfort. Keep at home so that you do not publish it. Wear a mask about others in your home.
Fuch said, if you start to echo and feel frustrated, these will be clear signals that you should see a doctor or maybe you take yourself to the emergency room quickly. In the hospital, additional oxygen can give you if necessary.
There is no protection from the RSV vaccine, but this may change by the next season. In the United States, there are four RSV vaccines that may approach the review by the FDA, and more than ten experiments. Some of them are designed to protect infants, some are testing in the elderly.
“Since we have very limited ways to treat them effectively, you should do everything you can to prevent it in the first place,” Villanueva said.
The preventive measures of this crowded RSV season will look familiar: wash your hands frequently, surface disinfection, and wear a mask in crowded spaces.
“You may want to postpone this visit for a week to see your grandchildren, or you may want to wear a mask if you go to a crowded place.” “Masks and action of manual washing. I know that people are more than that, but if you are a weak person or know that you have basic medical conditions, when we know that RSV is rising, you should do these things and be careful about children with active patients. All this helps.”