What is RSV?

RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus. It causes infections of the respiratory tract, most commonly among children and teenagers.

Overview

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is considered a major culprit of respiratory tract infection in the early ages of human life. It affects all age groups and is responsible for upper respiratory tract infection, inflammation in the middle ear, and lower respiratory tract infection.^1,2

Estimation in the year 2015 showed that more than 33 million cases of sudden lower respiratory tract infection took place in children, and over 85% of the cases were reported in countries with below-average income.³

The maximum effect of RSV is seen in winter, and with lower temperature, there is some established correlation. A few of the symptoms of RSV are runny nose, cough, and breathing issues. It spreads by means of droplets of the respiratory system.⁴

Symptoms of RSV and the way RSV spreads affect patients of every age group. However, its effects on teenagers are of different intensity. It does not allow teenagers to take care of their developing bodies and mental health, as it hampers the performance during physical activity and makes them hold their backs to be social in person.⁵

If RSV persists for a long term, it might lead to various other medical conditions of advanced nature, like Asthma.⁶

Do you know who is prone to get RSV?

• One who is born 3 weeks (or more than 3 weeks) before the expected date
• Babies below the age of 6 months
• Children up to 2 years of age with prolonged lung disease or any heart related complication at birth
• People with a disorder related to brain and muscle, as this does not allow the patient’s body to generate a coordinated response where both brain and muscles are involved
• People with a weak immune system as plays an important role in the development of RSV; it stops the body from being able to fight against any disease to the extent that it should⁵

The way it spreads

It mainly spreads via respiratory droplets, but due to few malpractices, the contact mode of virus spread also plays a role. For instance, if someone is sneezing or coughing without covering the nose or mouth, then droplets would get splashed all over the surroundings. 

It might be the case even if the nose and mouth are covered with the hand and then other objects are touched with the same hand without washing or sanitising them. This way the objects full of RSV are ready to infect others with just one touch.^4,5

Symptoms

There are differences in the symptoms based on the age groups, and among adults, symptoms are similar to viz. 

The main symptoms include a rise in body temperature, a cough, and a congested nose.

Sometimes, a cough that sounds a bit tight, like a barking sound.⁵

Impacts on teenagers

We have just read that RSV spreads through droplets and contact; and the way it affects the respiration, it is always recommended for RSV patients to be in isolation for recovery and to avoid its spread further. This creates impacts on children in multiple ways.

Reduced physical activity

There are numerous effects that RSV exerts on a teenager’s body, and a reduction in physical activity is noteworthy. This is because it is of the utmost importance for the age group under discussion. Issues related to breathing decrease the endurance of an RSV patient by a significant proportion, and that leads to the impacts as come ahead.

Hampered muscle growth

Teenage is the period during which the maximum muscle growth takes place. Males get this growth more than females because of the difference in hormonal levels, and the growth of muscles gets affected when RSV does not allow the patient to be active physically.

Decreased bone mass

Lack of physical activity does not let the bones grow in the best possible way, especially among teenagers, as this is the time frame during which mineral-based density of the bone occurs. Its effect can be seen for the rest of the life, to be precise on the specific sites which bear the load of the weight.

Reduced flexibility

There are cord-shaped structures which connect bones and muscles, and these are responsible for the flexibility of a person. If there is a lack of sports activity due to isolation and breathing complications, these structures do not develop to gain the maximum possible strength.

Physical development and growth

Overall development of the body occurs at the teenage if compared to any other age segment of the human life, and strength of the muscles, power, speed, and endurance related to the heart functionality. If, due to any reasons, there is a lack of physical activity, as RSV is being discussed, overall development of the body gets impacted.

Impaired cognitive development

Lack of physical activity leads a teenager RSV patient to an underdeveloped mind which is not capable of applying logic to solve a problem. It might also show its effects on building the sense of moral values and to selflessly contribute for the social betterment.

Hazy career

As far as career is concerned, in the early teenage years, technicalities of any sports can be grasped and then with the passage of age, strength increases due to various developments in the body. This can increase the performance as an athlete. However, isolation and breathing complications due to RSV do not allow teenagers to excel this way.

Inability to do teamwork

Teamwork is an important skill to learn, and is easy to learn with the developing mind during teenage years. However, in order to keep the patients rested and avoid the virus spread, RSV teenaged patients do not get this trait developed.

Immunity gets weaker

The immune system fights against the disease-causing agents, and mild exercise helps one boost the immunity. This keeps the person safe from health complications. However, RSV patients might struggle to be motivated and fit enough to exercise and boost their immunity.

Low self-esteem

Communication skills and many other characteristics are important to learn for one’s self-respect and so o that thoughts can be conveyed in the best possible manner. Not being social keeps a teenager deprived of these sorts of life skills, and affects the RSV patient for many years to come.

Smoking and alcohol

To be fit and able to perform well in sports, an athlete chooses a healthy life-style, however lack of physical activity among RSV patients, in early teenage years, might not let them develop as athletes. Due to this, decreased motivation to keep the body fit and their circumstances that do not allow them to be social can lead them to smoking and alcohol consumption.

Fat deposition

Lack of exercise in teenagers, when the body actually starts undergoing changes due the post-puberty development, can increase the deposition of fat. This might render other complications related to heart, blood pressure, and diabetes etc.⁷

There might be a thought to perform physical activity alone, which is one of the methods to strengthen the muscles of lungs and to improve the breathing process. However, even this needs a lot of motivation and support either from peers or family. Thus, it is not easy for RSV patients to perform exercise and maintain the body’s functionalities as normal.^8,9

Lack of social interactions

Being social is one of the most important aspects of anybody’s life because our society helps us to make friends. This acts as our support system and helps in lowering depression and anxiety.

However, if someone suffers from viral infection(s), they need to be isolated as in the case of RSV patients. When this happens in teenagers, patients might feel themselves to be in even worse scenarios than adults.

It is proven fact in a study that 20% of the total socially isolated teenagers, because of loneliness, suffered from depression that is diagnosable.

That is further intensified by using more social media platforms. On social media platforms, someone may share a few photos or videos to capture the happiest moments in their day- of course these do not define the person’s entire day.

In isolation, this fake imagery might act as a stimulus to the stress hormones for an RSV patient who is not able to enjoy their social life and feel happy.

Because of the isolation, activities change completely which certainly affect the patient’s body in such a way that patient tiredness and rest requirement change. This changes sleeping patterns as well.^10,11,12

Aggravated medical conditions

There are many cases in which RSV can affect patients for a long time-period even in adulthood, and can lead to advanced stages of respiratory disorders. 

Asthma, in which cylindrical structures in the respiratory system through which air passes during the breathing process, get narrowed, sometimes swollen, and extra release of sticky fluid is also noticed.

Another condition might come into existence in which the air-passages, mentioned earlier, get damaged and block the airflow.

RSV might also affect the heart functionality by creating hindrance in pumping the sufficient amount of blood through the body, leading to complications such as ischaemia.⁶

Summary

RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus that causes infection of the respiratory tract during childhood and teenage years. This mainly occurs in the winters and affects millions of children.

It spreads through the respiratory droplets, and infected patients show symptoms like cough, runny nose, and complications related to breathing.

It affects the teenagers in a drastic manner as children lose the stamina and endurance which stops them from getting involved in physical activities, thus affecting their physicality.

In addition, isolation of the RSV patients, to curb the spread of virus, hampers the teenagers’ mental growth, and definitely emotional jolts are experienced by them. At times, the long term infection can even develop a few serious medical conditions.