Orthopneumovirus Human

From Wikipedia:

Human orthopneumovirus, formerly Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), is a syncytialvirus that causes respiratory tract infections. It is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections and hospital visits during infancy and childhood. A prophylactic medication, palivizumab, can be employed to prevent HRSV in preterm (under 35 weeks gestation) infants, infants with certain congenital heart defects (CHD) or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and infants with congenital malformations of the airway. Treatment is limited to supportive care, including oxygen therapyand more advanced breathing support with CPAP or nasal high flow oxygen.

In temperate climates there is an annual epidemicduring the winter months. In tropical climates, infection is most common during the rainy season.

In the United States, 60% of infants are infected during their first HRSV season,^[2] and nearly all children will have been infected with the virus by 2–3 years of age.^[2] Of those infected with RSV, 2–3% will develop bronchiolitis, necessitating hospitalization.^[3] Natural infection with HRSV induces protective immunity which wanes over time—possibly more so than other respiratory viral infections—and thus people can be infected multiple times. Sometimes an infant can become symptomatically infected more than once, even within a single HRSV season. Severe HRSV infections have increasingly been found among elderly patients. Young adults can be re-infected every five to seven years, with symptoms looking like a sinus infection or a cold (infections can also be asymptomatic).