The “respiratory syncytial” virus, which recently spread strongly in Egypt’s schools, restored the atmosphere of panic that accompanied the spread of Corona in the past two years in Egypt, in light of the increasing infection with the virus among children, which is similar to influenza and Corona.
And its symptoms, similar to the Corona virus, being a respiratory disease, caused a state of panic among the parents, and calls on social media for the government to close schools or postpone exams and overlook the absence of students from classes.
According to a survey conducted by the Preventive Medicine Sector of the Egyptian Ministry of Health on a large number of children with respiratory symptoms, 73 percent of them tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus. The head of the sector, Amr Qandil, explained, in media statements, that 95 percent of infected children are less than three years old, especially those with weak immunity, noting that the virus “is not new and activates every year in the autumn period, and remains in the patient’s body for five days.”
The Ministry of Health had warned of the spread of respiratory viruses between seasons, which infect a large number of children.
Symptoms of syncytial virus
The syncytial virus causes infections in the respiratory system, as the infection usually reaches its peak in late fall or winter, and its symptoms are similar to the symptoms of colds, influenza, and corona, as they are all respiratory diseases, and often appear following several days of infection, as symptoms may begin to appear following A period of four to six days from exposure to the virus, and although younger children are more susceptible to infection, it infects adults as well, and leads to the emergence of many signs that are similar to colds and common cold.
Symptoms of the virus, in severe cases, include fever, severe cough and wheezing (a sharp sound usually heard during exhalation), as well as rapid breathing or difficulty breathing, in addition to the appearance of a blue color on the skin due to lack of oxygen (cyanosis). The virus may spread to the lower respiratory tract, causing inflammation of the lungs or bronchi, which are the small air passages leading to the lung.
Despite Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, a spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Health, confirming that it is a “contagious virus”, he considered that it “is not an epidemic that requires closure like Corona,” adding in televised statements that “among every 100 infected with the syncytial virus, there are regarding 98 who do not have symptoms or have symptoms in the respiratory system.” The upper level is reduced with treatment.
Abdul Ghaffar pointed out that only two percent of people with colds may lead to pneumonia, a continuous rise in temperature for three days that does not respond to reducers, and difficulty breathing, stressing that it has no specific treatment, and it is treated with influenza medicines, not antibiotics. And that the method of recovery is like treatment for influenza by staying home and raising immunity by eating healthy, drinking fluids, and continuous disinfection of hands and surfaces, while there is no vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus.