Her daughter’s most recent infection on Oct. 17 led her to spend several days at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in Vaughan, Ont. RSV, a common childhood infection, affects the lungs and respiratory tract, usually resulting in cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, and fever. But the virus can also cause other infections, such as pneumonia. This was the case for Ip’s daughter, who also suffered from an ear infection and saw her oxygen saturation level drop to 80%. “The RSV actually made her sicker than the COVID,” Ip told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Tuesday, referring to her daughter’s infection with COVID-19 in April. “With the RSV, her cough was much more severe to the point where she was throwing up. . . . The COVID didn’t bother her as much.” Ip is one of several Canadians who contacted CTVNews.ca to share their children’s recent experience with RSV. Emailed responses have not all been independently verified. RSV cases are increasing in Canada. According to Public Health Canada’s latest Respiratory Virus Report, there has been a steady increase in positive RSV tests across the country since early September, particularly in Quebec. “Respiratory syncytial virus activity (486 detections, 3.5% positive) is above expected levels for this time of year,” says the report, which ends on October 15. late spring This comes at a time when emergency rooms across Canada are already facing long wait times and staff shortages. Ip said she saw this firsthand when she took her daughter to the hospital for a previous RSV infection last month. A lack of available pediatric beds meant her daughter would have to wait nearly 20 hours for a bed, Ip said. In the United States, an increase in RSV cases among young children is also crashing children’s hospitals in Connecticut and Illinois. According to PHAC, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for RSV. That leaves parents like Ip worried about what the next infections might look like for their children. “There is not much we can do but prepare for the start [the] Next [infection],” Ip wrote in an Oct. 24 email to CTVNews.ca. “It’s such a stressful time as a parent, especially when you’re so nervous that you don’t know when the next one is going to hit and how bad it’s going to be.”
‘YOU SHOULD REALLY PAY IT’
Calgary-based Rebecca St. John said RSV hit her youngest of three children particularly hard. Her 18-month-old daughter not only coughs, but has fevers that last several days at a time, she said. On October 21, the daughter of St. John was diagnosed with RSV by their family doctor and given antibiotics for the cough. “It’s very concerning,” he told CTV News Toronto on Monday. “Ever since humans have [started] taking off their masks [and] The restrictions for COVID have been lifted, it’s much worse than before – the cough is worse, the runny nose is worse, the congestion is much worse.” Her two-year-old son has also been infected with RSV, St. John, coughing to the point of vomiting. St. John said she has never seen any of her children so sick. The increase in RSV cases this year is attributed to the implementation of fewer public health restrictions designed to limit the spread of COVID-19. From August 2020 to May 2021, PHAC recorded 239 confirmed cases of RSV. That was at a time when provinces and territories across Canada had imposed lockdowns, as well as mask-wearing and physical distancing measures. During the 2019-2020 season, there were 18,860 confirmed cases of RSV. According to experts, the lack of exposure to viruses in the past two years has made young children more vulnerable to infection. “I think their immune system just hasn’t seen the number of viruses that a typical child would have seen before the pandemic,” Dr. Thomas Murray, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Yale School of Medicine, told CNN. Severe cases of RSV may require hospitalization, PHAC says, where children who have trouble breathing may be given oxygen. However, many infections turn out to be simple colds and usually go away on their own after a week or two, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So far, St. John said none of her children have had to go to the hospital, but she continues to use humidifiers and give them Tylenol to help clear congestion. “It’s about keeping them comfortable [and] making sure they drink their fluids,” St. John said. “Besides, you really have to get away with it.”
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION
For Monica Kapac, her son’s RSV infection came as a shock, she said. “I knew the RSV was going to come out, but … I figured maybe we were past the worst of it,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Tuesday. What started as a simple cold turned into a high fever, Kapac said, along with shortness of breath, wheezing, vomiting and coughing. After taking him to the Okotoks Health and Wellness Center on Oct. 20, her 11-month-old son was diagnosed with RSV. From there, he was transferred to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. A few days later, her son was released from the hospital and his condition has since improved, she said. According to the CDC, the best way to relieve symptoms associated with RSV infections is to take over-the-counter medications for pain and fever, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, and to drink fluids to prevent dehydration. For now, Kapac gives her son Tylenol or Advil to manage his fever and keeps him hydrated with plenty of fluids, she said. Her biggest piece of advice to parents is to trust their gut if their kids are sick and not hesitate to get them the help they need. “Trust your gut — if something seems a little off or you’re worried about something, it’s definitely better to look into it,” Kapac said. “If we hadn’t taken him in, then who knows what could have happened.” Dr. Donald Winn, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University in Montreal, said RSV is quite contagious, similar to COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. “We’re seeing a return to what it was pre-pandemic with these respiratory viruses, except it’s not just these pre-pandemic respiratory viruses — now added to the mix is COVID,” Vinh told CTVNews .ca on Monday. While the virus is common in children, it can also be contracted by adults. Deanna Kirkbride said she now has RSV after her four-year-old son contracted the virus earlier this month. Kirkbride took her son to Englehart and District Hospital after his fever rose to 104 F, where he was diagnosed with RSV on Oct. 20. In addition to a fever, he also has a double ear infection and a cough. Kirkbride said she herself has a low-grade fever, as well as shortness of breath and fatigue. “When something like this hits, it hits hard,” Kirkbride told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Tuesday. “I’ve been out of work for almost two weeks now.” Her son’s condition has since improved, Kirkbride said. She continues to give him Tylenol and Advil to manage his fever and is on antibiotics for his ear infections. One thing Kirkbride said she hopes to see in the future is more awareness about the virus and how to manage the symptoms. “When I posted online that I had RSV … my friends and family had no idea what it was,” Kirkbride said. “Public health must give more information and be more open [RSV]. “They are very open about COVID [but] there are other things out there that can be just as bad.” With files from CTV National News Los Angeles Bureau Chief Tom Walters, CTV National News Correspondent Heather Wright and CTVNews.ca writers Michael Lee and Daniel Otis
