RSV - What are symptoms? Are children vulnerable?

Watching your kids get sick can be heartbreaking.

What you need to know about Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

RSV? Been There, Done That!

You may not be familiar with RSV, aka Respiratory Syncytial Virus, but your immune system is. There is a 100% chance you've been sick with a cold caused by RSV. It is estimated that nearly all children in the U.S. experience an infection from this virus within the first two years of life, according to a 2017 paper published in American Family Physician.

What is RSV? What can we do?Dr. Brandan Lee

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Common symptoms of RSV infection can include:

cough

sore throat

fever

runny nose

shortness of breath/wheezing/trouble breathing/breathing faster than normal

lips and fingertips turning blue

RSV causes the common cold. It is just one of the many viruses that can cause a Respiratory Tract Infection (RTI). As with most viral RTIs, it is not particularly dangerous for healthy people. There's a good chance RSV caused one or more of the colds you've recovered from. The virus itself is everywhere. It's ubiquitous, as common as the air we breathe. Any attempts to prevent contact with RSV would be in vain. RSV was first identified in 1956 but has likely been around forever.

As is the case for all viral RTIs, it can be serious or dangerous for those with compromised immune systems, like cancer patients and the elderly, or for those with undeveloped immune systems, like infants.

How can we protect the potentially vulnerable?

If nearly every, if not every, baby will experience an RSV infection before they are two years old, why does it turn serious for some babies and not for others?

It's a good question. And there isn't one easy answer. The human immune system is complex and multifaceted. Many factors may explain why some humans get sick and others don't.

One crucial factor to consider is Vitamin D levels. It's been well established that Vitamin D plays a critical role in preventing and fighting RTIs. You'll see many other articles about this on this site.

With 90% of American adults surveyed having sub-optimal Vitamin D levels and 40 to 50% being dangerously low, aka deficient, it's not hard to imagine that babies are born with low Vitamin D levels.

In 2017, an article published in the Journal of Pediatrics showed that 50% of children hospitalized with RSV had low Vitamin D levels.

This 2011 article published in Pediatrics tested cord blood in newborns and found that babies with Vitamin D deficiency were more likely to get sick from RSV.

The 2023 article published in the European Journal of Cell Biology suggests that Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the physical health of the lungs' tissues, called epithelium. Vitamin D may have an essential protective role in preventing RSV.

While this article is in no way intended to be medical advice for you or your children, and we recommend you work with a health care provider that is up to date about Vitamin D, the evidence suggests that expecting mothers should prioritize their Vitamin D levels throughout pregnancy to give the new baby every advantage in their new life. If the baby is already born, he/she may benefit from a Vitamin D supplement. If the baby is breastfeeding, nursing moms must understand that if the mom is low in Vitamin D, the baby won't get enough from breast milk.