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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes annual epidemics of acute respiratory illnesses in children, ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infections to severe lower respiratory tract disease including bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Severe RSV disease occurs primarily in infants younger than 6 months during their first fall and winter season of life.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes annual epidemics of acute respiratory illnesses in children, ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infections to severe lower respiratory tract disease including bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Severe RSV disease occurs primarily in infants younger than 6 months during their first fall and winter season of life.
RSV activity in the United States usually begins in the late fall and extends through spring; peak activity typically occurs in early February, although there can be regional variation.1 Following the institution of nonpharmacologic interventions (eg, masking, social distancing) for the prevention of COVID-19 in March of 2020, the number of RSV infections in the United States decreased rapidly and dramatically. Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses also may have altered RSV epidemiology. RSV activity in the United States remained very low through the traditional 2020-2021 fall-winter season but increased in the spring of 2021, with numbers of cases rising to a level similar to a fall-winter season throughout the different regions of the United States and continuing over the spring, summer, and fall. This inter-seasonal activity was a marked deviation from the typical RSV seasonal epidemiology and was not generally followed by a second wave of increased RSV circulation in the winter.
| Contributor | American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) |
|---|---|
| Source | American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) |
| Length | 1 page |
| Publication Date | 08/26/2022 |
| Format | Article |
