What is RSV?

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common virus that can infect the lungs and breathing tubes. It is very common in young babies. Almost all children get the virus at least once before they are 2 years old.

How is it spread?

The virus is most common between late fall and early spring. RSV spreads the same way as a common cold:

• By touching the hands of someone who has the infection.
• By touching something that has been touched by a person with the infection, such as toys, door handles, furniture or countertops.

What are the symptoms of RSV?

Children with RSV have the same symptoms as a common cold, including some or all of:

• coughing,
• a runny nose,
• fever,
• decrease in appetite and energy,
• irritability.

Some children (most often very young infants) have difficulty breathing/and or wheezing.

How is RSV treated?

Usually RSV is mild and doesn’t need any treatment. Most children get better within a week or two.. Sometimes children will need to be hospitalized so that they can be watched closely and given fluids or oxygen if needed.

Antibiotics aren’t used because RSV is a virus. Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses.

How can I protect my children from RSV?

• Keep babies under 6 months old away from people with colds, if possible.
• Wash your hands and your children’s hands often to reduce the spread of germs.
• Breastfeed your baby. Breast milk contains antibodies and other immune factors that help prevent and fight off illness.
• Don’t smoke.
• Make sure your child receives all recommended immunizations. Vaccines won’t prevent your child from getting a cold, but they will protect your child from some of the complications a cold can cause.
• There is a special vaccine for RSV called palivizumab but it is given only to children at risk of severe RSV (mainly babies with heart disease or those who were born very early). It has to be given every month over the winter.

What can I do if my child is sick?

• Keep your child as comfortable as possible and offer plenty of fluids.
• Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever. Ibuprofen should only be given if your child is drinking reasonably well. Do not give ibuprofen to babies under 6 months old without first talking to your doctor.
• If your baby is having trouble drinking, try to clear nasal congestion gently with a bulb syringe or with saline (salt water) nose drops.
• Do not give over-the-counter cough and cold medicines (which don’t need a doctor’s prescription) to a child younger than 6 years old. (This does not include drugs used to treat fever.) If you are using them for children over 6 years, read instructions carefully. Give only the recommended dose, and do not give them more often than listed on the label.

When should I call a doctor?

Call your doctor or take your baby to an emergency department if your baby:

• has trouble breathing or has lips that look blue,
• is not eating or is vomiting,
• is not having wet diapers, or
• is younger than 3 months old and has a fever.

See a doctor if your child:

• has had a fever for more than 72 hours,
• is breathing rapidly or seems to be working hard to breathe,
• has lips that look blue, or
• is coughing so bad that he is choking or vomiting.

H2. More information from the CPS:

• Preventing respiratory syncytial virus infections, a statement of the Canadian Paediatric Society.

Reviewed by:
CPS Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee

Last updated: October 2009