We MUST continue to keep our guard up against respiratory syncytial infection in infants and children because, although cases have decreased, the virus has not gone away.
A shield against the respiratory syncytial virus
by Mara Magistroni
In the last three months of 2021 there was a high number of infections that led many children under two to hospital, with problems in managing access to the wards also due to the concomitance with Covid-19. “Many of the affected children had both diseases at the same time,” says Fabio Mosca, past president of the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN), full professor of Pediatrics at the University of Milan and director of the department for women’s, children’s and health of the Infant of the Foundation IRCCS Cà Granda Maggiore Policlinico Hospital of Milan.
Respiratory syncytial virus: cases tripled in Lazio
There is still no data to document with certainty how serious the infection was this year, but it had different connotations than usual in terms of severity and anticipation. Moreover – Moscow recalls – the epidemic season is still fully underway: “Parents must continue to be careful, especially in the first year of the child’s life”.
Resveratrol ally in the prevention against viruses
by Letizia Gabaglio
How to protect the little ones
The precautionary and preventive measures also used to deal with Covid remain valid: masks, hand washing, distancing and attention not to frequent crowded places. In addition to primary prevention, prophylaxis with monoclonal antibody is provided which is administered within the first 6 months of life for all born before the 29th week and up to the 35th week in case of risk factors, and which consists of 5 intramuscular injections from carry out once a month, from the beginning of November to March. “We have seen how it helped to contain the infections and how children without prophylaxis were most affected, which protects them from the most serious forms and avoids hospitalization”, underlines the expert: “Most of the hospitalized children, in fact, were born at term. Due to the advance of the epidemic season – concludes Mosca – in cases where prophylaxis began in October, a sixth dose could be envisaged, to complete the coverage period until the end of the epidemic season ”.