TRENTO. «Respiratory virus epidemic in newborns: full Italian hospitals. If you have small children, please pay attention ». This is the post by Fedez on Instagram which reports on the state of the little Vittoria of just 6 months from a few days in the hospital.
“This RSV virus (Respiratory syncytial virus) should not be taken lightly” he writes on social media. Chiara Ferragni had already reassured the followers, thanking for the positive messages from the fans. After the fear for the little girl who is recovering, Fedez thus warns parents against this disease that affects the little ones and can prove to be particularly risky, as recently also reported by pediatricians, because it causes bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
In Trentino five hospitalizations a day.
This subtle epidemic is also affecting Trentino in these days, and Pediatrics at the Santa Chiara hospital are calculated, on average, 5 hospitalizations a day. “We must keep health surveillance very high,” commented the director of APSS, Dr. Antonio Ferro.
What is syncytial virus.
«Every autumn the Syncytial Respiratory Virus (RSV) arrives, filling the pediatric wards and constituting a considerable danger for the weakest children. Unfortunately against the virus (discovered in the 1950s) we still do not have an effective vaccine », writes the virologist and immunologist Roberto Burioni on Twitter, commenting on the news of Fedez’s appeal on social media to be careful.
Just a couple of weeks ago one of the most important scientific journals in the world, Nature, published a study where it was explained that response measures to Sars-Cov-2, combined with vaccines, appear to have suppressed measles, pneumonia and meningitis and the flu virus. But they will return with a rebound in the coming months, facilitated by the cold, and among these diseases is the syncytial virus which is responsible for about 5% of deaths in children under 5 years of age.
Infection saw all-time lows during the pandemic in all countries, but then cases began to trace back in April 2021. And off-season peaks were observed in the US, Japan, Australia and the Netherlands.
Symptoms and attention.
The Syncytial Respiratory Virus, explain the pediatricians of the Italian Society of Pediatrics, usually causes colds, but especially in children in the first months of life the RSV infection can reach the lower airways and lungs causing acute bronchiolitis (an inflammation lower airways) or pneumonia. It spreads easily from person to person and the infection is contracted through the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and eyes, touching the secretions with the hands and then rubbing the eyes or nose. The virus can survive for many hours on hard surfaces such as tables, doorknobs, toys and cribs.
It is the most frequent cause of respiratory tract infection in children under the age of 2 and is the leading cause of hospitalization under one year of age. In Italy, the epidemic period runs between October and March, with a peak in January-February. The warning signs (inappetence and difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath) are not to be underestimated.
In Germany “crazy wave”.
Also in Germany there are many cases of RSV infection, the respiratory syncytial virus, among children and in particular among newborns. This is what the Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote, which interviewed the head physician of the Dresden University Polyclinic, Reinhard Berner, who specializes in pediatric childhood diseases. “In Germany and Europe we have had a crazy wave of RSV infections since September,” he said.
“Hospitals and ICUs are full like never before in years.” According to the primary, anti-Covid measures, such as distance and the mandatory use of masks, have caused not only that there was no wave of flu, but also that the RSV temporarily disappeared. A circumstance that caused “the lowering of the natural group immunity in the age group of young children”.