CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Winter doesn’t officially begin for another 3 weeks, but here in South Texas, doctors are already seeing a surge in Respiratory Syncytial Virus, and it is one of the leading reasons why a young child could end up in the hospital.
RSV is a highly contagious respiratory illness that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. For some, however, it can be more severe, and here in Texas, the numbers are climbing.
The most recent report from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows that for the South Texas region, nearly 1-in-4 RSV tests came back positive. Earlier this month, that figure was 1 in 3.
There are now vaccines for older adults and pregnant women, but Driscoll Children’s Hospital's Director of Pulmonology Dr. Jon Roberts said that when it comes to infants and children, dealing with RSV for most falls under the category of “supportive care.”
“We don’t have a medication that will help them -- we support them,” Roberts said. “We make sure they are hydrated. If they are able to drink, they drink, or they get IV fluids. We make sure their oxygen is okay and if they need extra oxygen, we give it to them.”
But Driscoll is also going a step further.
According to Roberts, the hospital is part of a handful of sites around the world involved in a program to develop the first approved treatment for RSV. They are testing an oral medication that, when taken, kills the RSV virus, and they are looking for newly diagnosed volunteers.
“What we are doing is we’re recruiting infants and toddlers up to 3 years of age to be able to come into the study to take this medication for 5 days,” Roberts said.
In some cases, the actual medicine will be given and in others, it will be a placebo. Doctors will then be testing the patient to see how they respond to the drug.
Roberts said that if they can show that the treatment helps, they will be that much closer to getting it approved and prescribed.
Of course, in medical studies like this, it can be years before a drug is actually available.
To find out more about the study, visit the RSVPEDs website. You may also email Dr. Jon Roberts at jon.roberts@dchstx.org