Virus poses yet another health concern for children

Infants and toddlers showing signs of the common cold may be at risk for a more serious condition.

Nearly every child 2 years and younger will be infected at some time by RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, said John Prpich, a Tampa pediatric pulmonologist. Often, the mostly minor illness runs its course in a week or two; still it is responsible for 4,500 deaths and 125,000 hospitalizations of young children each year, American Lung Association research shows.

The virus pops up every year in Florida, with the local season lasting eight months. This year, however, there's a risk RSV will be overlooked by parents on alert for swine and seasonal flu. Aggravating the situation: The symptoms - congestion, cough, sneeze, runny nose and fever - resemble the common cold.

"It looks like your typical snotty nosed kid," Prpich said.

Tampa mother Stacy Neidlinger said she knew the risks of swine flu, not RSV, when she brought baby daughter Kathryn home from the hospital. She realized her newborn daughter was seriously ill when the baby kept spitting up mucus and had a constant gurgling in her throat. Even holding the two-week-old upright could not reduce the crying, Neidlinger said.

"The comforting wasn't working anymore," she said of the child, who spent several days at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital receiving additional oxygen.

Prpich said newborns are among those most vulnerable to the virus, as are premature babies and children with other underlying health conditions, such as congenital heart disease and cystic fibrosis. Every year, an estimated 2.1 million children 5 years old and younger will need medical attention for RSV-related illness, a 2009 New England Journal of Medicine report said.

Many of the diagnosed cases will be in the Sunshine State, which has the distinct honor of being the home of the nation's longest RSV season. In the Tampa Bay area, the season lasts from August to March; in more-tropical South Florida, the risk for infection lasts year-round, the Florida Department of Health said.

In 2008-2009, more than 3,200 children tested positive for the illness during the peak months of November to February. That translated to 332 hospitalized Tampa children at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in 2009, spokeswoman Amy Gall said.

By comparison, swine flu and seasonal flu don't seem to send as many children to the hospital as RSV-related illness. The fast-spreading swine flu, which triggered alerts and massive immunization drives late last year, infected more people but hospitalized fewer children.

A recent study at Children's Hospital in Boston found that children visiting emergency rooms with acute respiratory illness were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with RSV as with seasonal flu. Those children were six times more likely to be hospitalized than children diagnosed with the flu, the study found.

Statewide reports on swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, show the fall wave responsible for 201 deaths is over. And the number of diagnosed cases of seasonal flu is at levels normal for this time of year, according to the Florida Department of Health report for the week ending Jan. 30.

But Prpich said the ongoing risks of RSV should remind parents to never take any child's illness lightly.

"It should trigger at least a phone call to the pediatrician," he said.