Today (25 April) is National Childhood Immunization Day.
Many of the viruses that hibernate in the spring quietly revive, including syncytial virus.
Syncytial virus, also known as respiratory syncytial virus, is a common and highly contagious respiratory virus that is the primary detected pathogen of lower respiratory tract infection hospitalization in infants and young children.
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Children can also be infected if they don't go out
"This is your second child, right?" Faced with Yin Genquan, chief physician of the Respiratory Department of the Women and Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University, Guoguo's mother was a little surprised: "Doctor, how do you know? ”
When she was taken to the hospital, 1-year-old Guoguo was wheezing and had difficulty breathing. Auscultation found that Guoguo breathed relatively quickly, had nasal alar agitation, and had some retraction signs, which was preliminarily judged to be acute wheezing bronchitis. Further examination revealed that Guoguo was infected with syncytial virus.
Guoguo rarely goes out, how can she be infected with syncytial virus?
"Maybe it's from my brother. For families with two children, there is indeed a cross-infection with each other. Yin Genquan explained that syncytial virus is highly contagious, 2.5 times more contagious than rotavirus and 4 times that of influenza virus, and even if a baby under 1 year old does not go out, there is still a high risk of infection.
Yin Genquan reminded that if infants and young children are infected with syncytial virus, especially infants under 1 year old, it may cause inflammation of the lower respiratory tract, such as bronchiolitis, which then causes tracheal blockage, and finally leads to clinical symptoms such as wheezing.
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The virus is highly insidious, and the effects can be long-term
"The children are like this, how did they send it. Wang Qiang, deputy chief physician of the pediatric emergency department of the Women and Children's Medical Center affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University, also admitted a child with syncytial virus.
When the two-and-a-half-year-old was taken to the hospital, he had a severe fever and cough with wheezing and difficulty breathing. The hospital immediately carried out rescue, and the emergency was temporarily lifted after oxygen and sputum absorption.
Through questioning his medical history, Wang Qiang learned that Chenchen had been infected with syncytial virus when he was three months old, and this time it was a reinfection with syncytial virus. "Basically every year, I have a recurring cough, and what I fear most now is that he has a cold. Chenchen's mother said.
Although most children recover from syncytial virus infection, the effects of severe syncytial virus infection in infancy can be long-term, manifesting as recurrent wheezing or asthma, which are signs of impaired lung function.
The results of the examination showed that Chenchen's various indicators were not very optimistic: oxygen saturation could not be maintained during oxygen inhalation, the scope of pneumonia was very large, and liver function was several times higher than normal...... The disease is severe and requires admission to the ICU for treatment.
Two weeks later, Chenchen basically recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
Wang Qiang said that syncytial virus is highly insidious, and the symptoms of the early stage of infection are similar to those of the common cold, which is difficult to distinguish. "We have more experience in the diagnosis and treatment of syncytial virus, but for prevention, it requires the joint efforts of families, medical teams and society. ”
It is worth mentioning that syncytial virus has been detected for more than 60 years, and all infants may be at risk of severe syncytial virus infection, so prevention is a top priority.
Hu Yan, deputy chief physician of the Children's Health Department of the Women and Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University, said that at present, innovative methods for infant syncytial virus prevention have been approved in China. When syncytial virus infection season arrives, parents can pay attention and take proactive precautions to avoid infection.
Reporter | Xue Pingshi, Zhang Yi (Intern)
Edit | Ren Junfei is in charge of the editor| Zhang Xiuli
Produced by the Guangdong Health Online all-media team