Doctors have warned people of an outbreak of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in children that is ‘more infectious than Covid-19’.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show on Monday, Dr Mona Duffy said she is seeing a “massive rise” in patients presenting with general viruses that are typical of this time of year.
These viruses often share similar symptoms to those of Covid, and the highly infectious nature of RSV means it is currently more contagious than Covid.
Dr Duffy said the various is “Very infectious. Definitely on the ground, and in general practice, we're seeing that where classroom-loads of kids are all going out sick, my own family I'm seeing it where all my kids have been sick with it.
“Definitely, we're seeing this as much more contagious than even Covid. I think that's to be expected – if you have one child in your house who is sick and suddenly everybody is sick, you know this is more likely to be viral because bacteria don't spread as quickly.
"So, again, it can give you some bit of reassurance that you can monitor your child, you can treat their temperatures, push the fluids – don't mind if they're not eating too much as long as they're drinking and getting that little bit of sugar; that it's not just water you're giving them because then they can actually go low and become hypo-glycemic."
"We'd normally say if they have temperatures going beyond three days, we would kind of be concerned, especially if they're very high and hard to control," she said.
"Or if their breathing is getting worse or if they had low temperatures and then a few days later the temperature is getting worse, and the child is getting worse and not improving – that may indicate that because of that wheezing and that tightening of the airways; mucus hasn't been able to get up and get out, they're developing that secondary bacterial infection."
There is currently no vaccine against RSV; however, Dr Duffy said if parents are concerned, they should visit the HSE's 'Under the Weather' website for further guidance.
