Proper training is far better than taking drugs. Typically, people get their hands contaminated unknowingly and then rub their eyes or nose, says Dr. Hasan Jafri, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The best way to avoid RSV is to wash hands frequently, and avoid places like busy day-care centers where it can be transmitted easily. Symptoms include nasal congestion, coughing and some fever. In more severe cases, children suffer pneumonia, bronchitis and even respiratory failure.
Sufferers have few treatment options besides drinking lots of liquids.
Parents should make sure infants noses are clear of secretions to ensure an open breathing passage and take very young infants, infants with chronic respiratory diseases and premature infants to a doctor to determine whether they have RSV or a common cold.