Respiratory Syncytial Virus | Symptoms and Diagnosis
Symptoms
RSV tends to cause the typical symptoms of colds including:
* Sore throat
* Runny nose
* Nasal congestion
* Cough
* Wheezing (high-pitched sound when breathing) Mild
Mild headache *
* Mild fever
In general, symptoms caused by RSV tend to be more severe than the common cold. Symptoms usually begin about a week after having been exposed to someone with RSV infection.
In infants and children under 3 years or older children with lung problems, heart and immune underlying RSV may start looking like a mild cold with sneezing and runny nose. After two or three days, RSV can spread to the chest, causing coughing, breathing faster than normal and wheezing. Young children may also have a high fever. Babies with breathing problems may complain, enlarging their nose or have “shrinkage”, which means that the chest muscles are retracted so you can see the ribs when the baby struggles to breathe
Diagnosis
Your doctor may suspect RSV infection based on symptoms and physical examination during certain times of year when RSV is most common. In most adults and older children, more tests are needed because the symptoms are usually mild RSV disease and is usually treated at home.
When examining infants and children under three years or children with lung problems, heart and immune underlying the doctor to check for fever, cough, nasal congestion that could interfere with feeding, retraction of the chest, wheezing, rapid breathing and a bluish lips and nails of the fingers. If your child’s symptoms are severe or are not expected, your doctor may want to confirm the diagnosis of RSV by taking a sample of nasal secretions or throat to examine the virus in a laboratory.
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