Win32 Virus Removal

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 02/9/2011 10:20 AM | Comments: 5 | Last Modified: 02/9/2011 2:15 PM | Updates

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is asking parents to take steps to prevent respiratory infections in newborns after seeing a spike in the number of cases of such infections.

Since mid-December there have been 106 cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) admitted to the Children’s Hospital, according to the WRHA. A total of 19 kids had to be taken to the intensive care unit.

RSV is a virus that can lead to respiratory infections like bronchiolitis. It can occur year round, but is most common during the winter months.

Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, medical director of the WRHA child health program, stressed the need for basic hygiene and common sense: keeping babies away from places where they could catch a cold from others, like schools or shopping malls, for example.

"Hygiene and hand washing to prevent the transmission is probably the most important, as well as keeping the young children away from people who have obvious respiratory infections, colds and sneezing," she said. "Everyone wants to come and see your newly born baby, but if you have a respiratory infection and are sneezing and obviously have a cold, it’s best to stay away from very small babies."

Rockman-Greenberg said respiratory infections can be serious for kids, and might lead to the development of severe diseases or the need for hospitalization in kids under one year.

Of the 106 admissions to the Children’s Hospital:

• nine were less than one month old
• 44 were between one and six months old
• 23 were between six and 12 months old
• 30 were older than one year of age

Fifty-two of those kids admitted were from outside Winnipeg, and ten were from Nunavut.

Another 21 patients were seen in the ER, treated and released.