Human respiratory syncytial virus overview: Difference between revisions
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==History and Symptoms== | ==History and Symptoms== | ||
For most people, RSV produces only mild symptoms, often indistinguishable from [[common cold]]s and minor illnesses. | For most people, RSV produces only mild symptoms, often indistinguishable from [[common cold]]s and minor illnesses. | ||
==Primary Prevention== | |||
As the virus is ubiquitous in all parts of the world, avoidance of infection is not possible. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 18:20, 10 December 2012
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, which includes common respiratory viruses such as those causing measles and mumps. RSV is a member of the paramyxovirus subfamily Pneumovirinae.
RSV causes respiratory tract infections in patients of all ages. It is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infection during infancy and childhood. In temperate climates there is an annual epidemic during the winter months. In tropical climates, infection is most common during the rainy season. In the United States, 60% of infants are infected during their first RSV season, and nearly all children will have been infected with the virus by 2-3 years of age. Natural infection with RSV does not induce protective immunity, and thus people can be infected multiple times. Sometimes an infant can become symptomatically infected more than once even within a single RSV season. More recently, severe RSV infections have increasingly been found among elderly patients as well.
For most people, RSV produces only mild symptoms, often indistinguishable from common colds and minor illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control consider RSV to be the "most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants and children under 1 year of age."[1] For some children, RSV can cause bronchiolitis, leading to severe respiratory illness requiring hospitalization and, rarely, causing death. This is more likely to occur in patients that are immunocompromised or infants born prematurely. Other RSV symptoms common among infants include listlessness, poor or diminished appetite, and a possible fever.[2].
Recurrent wheezing and asthma are more common among individuals who suffered severe RSV infection during the first few months of life than among controls; whether RSV infection sets up a process that leads to recurrent wheezing or whether those already predisposed to asthma are more likely to become severely ill with RSV is a matter of considerable debate.
History and Symptoms
For most people, RSV produces only mild symptoms, often indistinguishable from common colds and minor illnesses.
Primary Prevention
As the virus is ubiquitous in all parts of the world, avoidance of infection is not possible.
References
- ↑
"Respiratory Syncytial Virus". CDC, Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch. Reviewed on January 21, 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-01. Check date values in:
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