Health
RSV season begins in South, Northeast
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 3, 2005
Respiratory syncytial virus outbreaks have been noted in the South and Northeast United States. Public health officials are alerting physicians to consider this virus as a possibility in their patients with lower respiratory tract infection, according to a report in the Dec. 17, 2004, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency is also asking physicians to implement isolation precautions to prevent spread in the health care setting and supply prophylaxis to particularly vulnerable patients, including premature infants and children with chronic lung and heart disease.
Outbreaks started in the South at the end of October 2004 and occurred in the Northeast at the end of November 2004.
The report also noted that the 2003-04 season began in early November 2003, peaked in February 2004 and continued until early April 2004, hitting the South first followed by the Northeast, Midwest and then the West.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/03/hlbf0103.htm.
