Your Pregnancy Week by Week: Weeks 35-40

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JOHN WHYTE: Hello.

I'm Dr. John Whyte, the Chief

Medical Officer for WebMD.

You've probably heard of RSV,

Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

It's been in the news a lot

lately, and you may be wondering

what the big deal is.

For most people, the symptoms

are mild, but it is a highly

contagious virus.

And if you're an older adult

and have

certain underlying

health conditions,

it's important to take

RSV seriously.

With me today is Dr. Morgan

Katz, an infectious disease

specialist from Johns

Hopkins Medicine,

to talk about what RSV is

and how it might affect you.

Dr. Katz, thanks for joining me.

MORGAN KATZ: Thank you so

much for having me.

JOHN WHYTE: Let's start off

with what are the symptoms

of RSV

that people should be aware of?

MORGAN KATZ: So the symptoms

of RSV can really vary depending

on the individual.

In the majority

of healthy children and adults,

RSV is going to cause symptoms

similar to any common cold.

So nasal congestion, some cough,

sore throat, sometimes a fever.

However, in the extremes of age,

so in infants and older adults--

and that is really adults

over the age of 60

with other chronic medical

conditions and really adults

over the age of 75 --you're

going to see more

severe symptoms.

In infants, we can see something

called bronchiolitis, which

is inflammation

of the small airways

of the lung, or pneumonia, which

causes wheezing,

difficulty breathing,

and sometimes needing

respiratory support.

In older adults,

you can see other issues more

like severe pneumonia, fever,

and potentially, what we're

starting to learn, other issues

down the road after

RSV infection

such as cardiac complications.

So this really is a disease that

can have significant impact

on infants, older adults,

and otherwise, you're going

to see, generally, pretty mild

symptoms of a common cold

in healthy kids

and healthy adults.

JOHN WHYTE: How is

RSV different

than other common viruses

like the cold or the flu?

MORGAN KATZ: So that's

a great question, and honestly,

it's pretty hard to tell.

And I think we are starting

to identify and talk about RSV

a little bit more

now in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic.

We're testing ourselves

more often.

We're more eager to diagnose

exactly what's going on.

We have a better understanding

now of how severe RSV can be,

particularly in older adults.

We've understood for a while

that RSV can cause quite

severe disease in infants,

but now we're understanding

a little bit more

that RSV can cause

severe pneumonia,

other complications,

even death in older adults.

JOHN WHYTE: Are there

any special precautions people

should take to avoid getting

or spreading RSV?

MORGAN KATZ: We do now have

new prevention strategies,

vaccines available for RSV.

There are currently three FDA

approved vaccines in the

United States.

It's recommended by the CDC

for all adults over the age

of 75 and adults over the age

of 60

that may be at risk

for severe disease.

We also have-- some

are core infection

prevention practices

that we can use to

prevent transmission

of respiratory viruses.

So things like staying home when

you're sick,

hand hygiene, wearing a mask--

all those things can help

prevent being exposed

to this virus and transmission

of the virus.

Of course, in nursing homes

and congregate living

facilities, transmission

of respiratory viruses

can happen very quickly.

You have to understand that you

have a whole lot

of vulnerable individuals living

in one setting who are generally

dependent on staff, health

care, direct caregivers

to provide direct care,

which can also lead

to transmission of some

of these respiratory viruses.

So we can see

these viruses sweep

through congregate

living facilities

and cause major problems

in this vulnerable population.

JOHN WHYTE: Dr. Katz, thank you

for sharing

this important information

with us.

MORGAN KATZ: Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

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