Dr Joseph Aracri Discusses Severity, Protection for Coming RSV Season

Joseph Aracri, DO, from Allegheny Health Network spoke about what parents can expect from this upcoming respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season as well as things that they can do to treat their child should they get diagnosed with RSV.

Transcript

What do you think we can expect from this coming RSV season in terms of severity and scope?

Well, the severity pretty much never changed. We did see a little bit more severe last year, because, you know, unfortunately, with all the COVID-19 measures, nobody got sick and all the kids were separated. So kids have to get sick. It's part of the growth and development of a child is that you have a cold. I think since we've already gone through that readjustment after the COVID years, I think we're going to do fine this year. And I don't think it's going to be significantly different.

How should parents go about protecting their children during the RSV season?

Well, as of right now, there are no medications for RSV. There are a couple that are used in very high-risk babies that are in the hospital, intubated, those kinds of things. But for general use, there's no medications that are out there for RSV. Typically, you just treat RSV believe it or not with just nasal saline suction and trying to keep the airway as open and keep the baby as comfortable as possible. Most important things is if your child has any cold, whether it's RSV, or caused by the many other cold viruses that are out there, it is first making sure your child is hydrated. Making sure their nasal passages are clear using nasal saline suction and a bulb syringe. Making sure they're able to feed and wet diapers. Should your child get a fever for more than a couple of days, seem incredibly irritable, or have trouble breathing, and by that I mean heaving at the chest and flaring at the nostrils, those are all reasons to seek medical attention.