Protecting Children With Quick Diagnosis (NAPSA)—With cough and cold season back in swing, parents with infants and small children should be on the lookout for a common virus that may lead to potentially serious complications—RSV(respiratory syncytial virus). Nearly half of all children are infected during their first year of life, and almost all children get an RSV infection by the age of two. According to the American Academyof Pediatrics, RSV is the leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among children undertwoyearsold. RSVis a virus that causes acute respiratory illness in patientsofall ages. While symptoms usually resemble the common cold and are fought off in a matter of days, coldlike symptoms accompanied by wheezing or difficulty breathing may beindicative of RSV. Among those at greatest risk from RSV are babies born prematurely, as well as children with lung or heart disease. Infants that attend child care or day care, and those with school-age siblings also have an increased risk for RSV infections. RSVis highly contagious. It can be spread when a person coughsor sneezes, and it can live on surfaces such as toys, countertops or doorknobs, and on handsandclothing. It is important for RSV to be diagnosed—and distinguished from other, similar illnesses with similar symptoms—so that proper medical attention can be administered to minimize infection and risk to the patient. Healthcare professionals including physicians, caregivers and laboratories, recog- Pl i ioe a Va i Cee A new diagnostic test for RSV can help children get proper medical attention, quickly, in the sameoffice visit. nize the benefits of utilizing rapid RSV tests to aid clinical diagnosis and managementof patient care. The new QuickVue RSVtest allows for the rapid, qualitative detection of RSV directly from specimens from symptomatic pediatric patients 18 years of age and younger. The test is intended for use as an aid in the rapid diagnosis of acute RSV viral infections. Thetest, which offers high accuracy, gives results in 15 minutes in the same office visit. It was designed by the makers of the QuickVue Influenza test. For more information, visit www.quidel.com.
