How to protect your child from COVID and other respiratory viruses

Children are sick again from various respiratory diseases. rare Between COVID-19 Pandemicso now is not the time to give up take precautions Against the virus, top pediatricians warned.

“The measures we have taken To prevent the spread of COVID Dr. Per Gesterand, pediatric hospitalist at the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Elementary Children’s Hospital, said:

However, diseases like respiratory syncytial virus and RSV are reappearing.

“They’re back, and in some cases they’ve come back very strong because they’ve built up a lot of kids who don’t have the immunity to these things that they usually see in the first few years of life,” Gesterand said. Told. This is the first person infected with RSV.

What he called “an unusual pattern of respiratory viral activity” also means that some viruses are appearing earlier than usual.

Last summer there was a “fairly large” outbreak of RSV that lasted until the virus’s typical autumn onset. This year, the U.S. will again see early RSV activity in the East and Midwest, Gesterand said. It usually takes longer for the virus to reach Utah, but it’s already showing up, he said.

Last week, there were about 100 pediatric RSV patients across the Intermountain Healthcare system, the region’s largest health care provider, with an average of six to 12 young patients admitted to hospital, he said.

“What’s strange is that we’re seeing it pretty early on,” said the doctor. It should be pretty well into the RSV season.”

Gesteland said there was an increase in rhinovirus cases at the end of the summer, usually associated with the common cold, that lasted until September. Similarly, I have seen many rhinovirus patients with asthma-like symptoms and dyspnea with wheezing.

When samples from some of those patients were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said the majority came back positive for what is known as enterovirus D68can cause serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing, and a rare but serious neurological condition that weakens muscles.

Gesterand said he “basically missed one cycle” of the virus, which is usually mild in adults, according to the CDC. 15 or so” of children with the disease, then decreased and “fortunately they are much better now”.

Now Gesterand said he is preparing jumping flu cases “In the next few weeks.

“It’s there,” said the doctor. “We are waiting for the right conditions to set in motion sustained community transmission. It’s the perfect opportunity to go viral.”

When it comes to COVID-19 and children, Gesterand said the coronavirus has been “relatively quiet, especially in pediatrics. But it’s still smoldering. We don’t know what will happen this fall and winter.” . That’s why unknown kind”

He advises parents during the pandemic to “get educated” about the virus, which may not have been of much concern for their young children before. “Reproductive School” Part of Intermountain Healthcare website Learn more about what’s out there with our focus on tracking disease activity in Utah.

of same mitigation Efforts against other viruses that have been used to slow the spread of COVID-19 have also been used, according to Gesterland, by having children and everyone around them wash their hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, keeping away from sick people. keep away masking when it can’t.

“People are a kind of i’m sick of itCOVID-19 has been “always there” and many Burn again this winter“If you want to protect yourself and your family from getting the flu, RSV, and other illnesses, they’ll do the trick.”

vaccination is also is the key For all ages.both influenza When COVID-19 shot There are also monthly injections available to protect children at highest risk of RSV, which usually won’t be given until December, but will likely be offered earlier this year.

How bad can winter get this year? The hospital is already seeing more patients than usual for this time of year, Gesterand said, adding that “the hospital system could become quite unstable depending on when the flu hits and when the flu and RSV coexist.” So we plan for things to get really busy.”