The strict lockdown in New Zealand last year appears to have contributed to Recent outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus in children, or RSV, a highly contagious, flu-like illness whose symptoms include runny nose, coughing, sneezing, and fever.
Children in New Zealand were mostly stuck indoors amid lockdowns in the Southern Hemisphere last autumn, lasting from March to May. After the country reopened last winter, health officials say, some of them contracted seasonal viruses and infections, probably because they were not exposed to germs.
In a typical year, cases of respiratory infections peak in New Zealand from June to September. But in 2020, the country experienced a âcomplete absence of annual winter influenza pandemicsâ. 99.9 percent reduction in flu cases and 98 percent reduction in RSV, according to a study published in nature in February.
This year, however, the same children have been more vulnerable to the same diseases than usual.
Since the start of winter five weeks ago, during which there have been no coronavirus restrictions, childrenâs wards in New Zealand have seen dozens of patients, many of them infants, battling the sometimes fatal illness, while some have been primary Schools have reported half their students absent due to respiratory diseases.
According to New Zealandâs Institute of Environmental Science and Research, the country has reported 969 cases of RSV in the five weeks, compared to an average of 1,743 cases in the entire 29-week winter season in the five years before the pandemic.
Dr Sue Huang, a virologist at the Institute for Environmental Science and Research and lead author of the Nature study, said the recent surge has not yet reached a plateau.
âThe exponential growth is very rapid,â she said in a statement. âThe absence of RSV last winter meant that there is a younger group of children from last year, as well as a new group this year, who have not been exposed to the seasonal virus.â
Doctors around the world have warned of the risk of an âimmune debtâ with more illness after restrictions are lifted following a drop in the number of viral and bacterial infections during the lockdown.
In a paper published in May in the journal infectious diseases nowIn this study, a team of French medical researchers suggested that reduced exposure to microbial agents may lead to a lack of âimmune stimulationâ in susceptible people, especially children. âThe longer this period of âviral or bacterial low-exposureâ, the greater the potential for future pandemics,â he wrote.
Unveiling the stringent lockdown measures that were lifted last April and May, New Zealand closed its borders early in the pandemic and allowed the country to end coronavirus transmission. No community case has been reported for more than four months.
https://nationworldnews.com/new-zea...y-virus-and-other-news-from-around-the-world/
Children in New Zealand were mostly stuck indoors amid lockdowns in the Southern Hemisphere last autumn, lasting from March to May. After the country reopened last winter, health officials say, some of them contracted seasonal viruses and infections, probably because they were not exposed to germs.
In a typical year, cases of respiratory infections peak in New Zealand from June to September. But in 2020, the country experienced a âcomplete absence of annual winter influenza pandemicsâ. 99.9 percent reduction in flu cases and 98 percent reduction in RSV, according to a study published in nature in February.
This year, however, the same children have been more vulnerable to the same diseases than usual.
Since the start of winter five weeks ago, during which there have been no coronavirus restrictions, childrenâs wards in New Zealand have seen dozens of patients, many of them infants, battling the sometimes fatal illness, while some have been primary Schools have reported half their students absent due to respiratory diseases.
According to New Zealandâs Institute of Environmental Science and Research, the country has reported 969 cases of RSV in the five weeks, compared to an average of 1,743 cases in the entire 29-week winter season in the five years before the pandemic.
Dr Sue Huang, a virologist at the Institute for Environmental Science and Research and lead author of the Nature study, said the recent surge has not yet reached a plateau.
âThe exponential growth is very rapid,â she said in a statement. âThe absence of RSV last winter meant that there is a younger group of children from last year, as well as a new group this year, who have not been exposed to the seasonal virus.â
Doctors around the world have warned of the risk of an âimmune debtâ with more illness after restrictions are lifted following a drop in the number of viral and bacterial infections during the lockdown.
In a paper published in May in the journal infectious diseases nowIn this study, a team of French medical researchers suggested that reduced exposure to microbial agents may lead to a lack of âimmune stimulationâ in susceptible people, especially children. âThe longer this period of âviral or bacterial low-exposureâ, the greater the potential for future pandemics,â he wrote.
Unveiling the stringent lockdown measures that were lifted last April and May, New Zealand closed its borders early in the pandemic and allowed the country to end coronavirus transmission. No community case has been reported for more than four months.
https://nationworldnews.com/new-zea...y-virus-and-other-news-from-around-the-world/
