Experts recommend to be alert to the epidemic of Virus respiratory syncytial which begins in September.

-In the last epidemic station, detections of VRS were 150% higher than other years, according to data provided by national network of surveillance epidemiological of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Madrid, 2011-September with the onset of autumn, starts to spread the epidemic respiratory viruses. One of the most common is the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), the more infectious agent of the pediatric population, known as babies Virus, which causes 80% of hospital admissions for respiratory cause in children.

Certain conditions such as relative humidity, low radiation or cold, in favour of one dispersion of the VRS. For this reason, experts from around the world in respiratory viruses gathered last week in Athens recommended vigilance before the start of the season, but also for the rest of the year. In the words of Dr. José María Eiros, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Valladolid, the VRS, generic terms appears throughout the year, although it is not what pediatricians call epidemic activity. Epidemic activity can standardize in some months of the year, concentrated in five months and a half or six months of the year, but the rest of the year there is activity. In fact we have some models with analysis that demonstrate that there are cases all months of the year and that is very important that you know ”.

Regionality of the VRS

RSV activity varies depending on the year, and is hardly expected to know how to act, hence the need to activate the monitoring. In the words of Dr. Eiros, can not limit the period of activity of the virus, because in Spain there are areas where the virus appears newly into autumn and others in which the virus stays until June, why should not focus only on a station but must remain vigilant throughout the year to know how is acting. There are not two equal stations ”.

In this sense, there are extracted from the previous year data provided by the national network of surveillance epidemiological of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, pointing that the VRS detections were 150% higher than previous years, according to figures from laboratories of AndalusiaAragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Castile and León, Catalonia, Galicia, Madrid, La Rioja and Ceuta.

In Spain, according to data from the study Bronchiolitis due to respiratory syncytial virus in hospitalized children: a study of seasonal rhythm ”, the annual epidemic bronchiolitis caused by respiratory syncytial virus begins to spread from the month of September and usually arrive until April, months in which the virus acts with more virulence.

In this sense experts again stress the importance of prevention in order to prevent infection of the VRS in vulnerable infants during the present 2011/12 season. Baby’s immune system does not generate defenses against this virus, being the most frequent cause of hospitalization in infants and young children. There is not yet a vaccine against the most common virus in the pediatric population, which is why experts recommend before the start of the station administration, the baby’s risk of pre-emptive treatment with monoclonal antibodies that increases the defenses in order to avoid possible contagion.

According to the Dr. r. Ortiz of Lejarazu, Chief of the service of Microbiology and Immunology of the Hospital Clínico Universitario in Valladolid, there are various publications that demonstrate an increase in the incidence of hospitalizations for VRS in the last ten years. RSV infections are responsible for 1 in every 2 pediatric hospitalizations in this period ”. In addition, respiratory infections are the leading cause of illness in the family environment, and the VRS a main character in those households where there are young children ”, concludes.

vulnerable babies

effects of bronchiolitis can often be confused with a simple cold in healthy babies, but they are particularly sensitive cases of vulnerable babies as premature babies, children born with congenital heart diseases, those infants with cystic fibrosis or babies with Down syndrome, where an RSV infection may cause a bronchiolitis serious even in some cases worsened the State of their diseases base.