ER doctor concerned by rise in dangerous respiratory virus in N.S. children

A top doctor at Nova Scotia's children's hospital is concerned about the jump in the number of young children she's seeing infected with a potentially dangerous virus.

"I'd say that it's probably taking up at least 20 per cent of the patients I see on a shift," said Dr. Katrina Hurley, chief physician at the IWK's emergency department.

Hurley said there were no confirmed cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in Nova Scotia last year because COVID-19 precautions work to prevent other viruses.

"That means any child under the age of two right now has essentially not been exposed to RSV," she said.

RSV is a highly contagious respiratory virus that is particularly dangerous to babies. It's most common in the winter months and can lead to bronchiolitis, a potentially serious lung infection.

"The infants [with] the highest risk of severe disease are under six weeks of age. But I would say, overall, anyone three months old or younger would be in a higher risk category," said Hurley. 

"Most parents would easily pick up signs compatible with bronchiolitis. So if your child is struggling to breathe, this would raise a red flag and an alarm to probably 99.9 per cent of parents."

Most children with symptoms of influenza-like illness that are admitted to hospital are swabbed and tested for RSV. Between Nov. 21 and Nov. 27, Nova Scotia reported 19 positive RSV cases, for a total of 46 cases so far this year.

A few weeks ago, Andrea Thompson's 8½-month-old, Whitley, started developing symptoms. 

"I have dealt with RSV and pneumonia and bronchitis — but this was completely different," she said.

"I had even gone as far as recording the way she was breathing because I ended up calling 811 because I had never heard anything like that in my life."

RSV symptoms may include runny nose, decreased appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever and wheezing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In very young infants the only symptoms may be irritability, decreased activity and breathing difficulties. 

Thompson said she had a frustrating experience going back and forth from the Colchester East Hants emergency room to the IWK emergency room in Halifax as Whitley went through a cycle of getting better and then getting worse over the following days after her RSV-positive test.

Thompson said it was her daughter's dermatologist who eventually informed her that a medication Whitley used to treat a vascular birthmark might have added to her respiratory symptoms.