The claim
The RSV virus is said to be a completely harmless cold virus for healthy children that does not require any therapy and certainly no vaccination.
Our conclusion
No, it is not “completely harmless”, even children without previous illnesses can die from it. There is currently no vaccination; therapy is only directed against symptoms.
audio message is currently being shared that contains a number of false and dangerous information about RSV.
Please do not forward! The 5 main statements are:
- The RSV virus is a cold virus that is completely harmless to healthy children and does not require any therapy and certainly no vaccination ❌
- Dangerous only for the following risk groups: premature babies, children with chronic lung diseases (such as cystic fibrosis), immunocompromised patients ❌
- Numbers can't be right, it can't be because of the RS virus that the intensive care units for children/premature babies are so full ❌
- Premature intensive care medicine is the most lucrative line of business in pediatric and adolescent medicine ✅
- RSV scaremongering is a distraction from the side effects of mRNA injections ❌
Four of these claims (1, 2, 3, 5) are false. Only the criticism of the economic exploitation of intensive care medicine for premature babies is justified.
As soon as parents have the impression that their child is having difficulty breathing or that their breathing is rapid, difficult or irregular, or that they are drinking less fluid, they should definitely consult a pediatrician.
In children with previous illnesses and premature babies, the first warning signs such as cough and fever should always be checked by a doctor. ( RKI )
RSV is not a harmless virus
No, infections with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are not considered harmless.
RSV is a worldwide pathogen causing acute diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract at all ages and is one of the most important pathogens of respiratory tract infections in infants, especially premature babies and small children. In terms of seasonality and symptoms, RSV infections are similar to influenza. Its prevalence in the general population has long been underappreciated.
Excerpt from the RKI guide to RSV
The RS virus is primarily transmitted via droplet infection (coughing, sneezing); conjunctiva and mucous membranes form the main entry points into the organism. Transmission via hands, objects and surfaces is also possible. Asymptomatic or poorly symptomatic infected people should not be underestimated as carriers. Infected people can be infectious as early as one day after infection and before symptoms appear. Depending on the competence of the immune system, this only lasts for 3-8 days, but can last for months in newborns or immunocompromised patients.
Current estimates suggest that 50 to 70% of children worldwide have an RSV infection in their first year of life. 48.5 out of 1000 become ill, 5.6 of them seriously. By the end of the second year of life, almost all children have one or more RSV infections. There is no long-term immunity. New infections are common, and this also affects adults who have regular contact with small children.

How dangerous is RSV disease in numbers?
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
A review of the mortality of severe RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease in hospitalized young children (≤ 2 years) analyzed data from several primary studies. It was found that on average 0.2% of cases in children without a known increased risk, 1.2% in premature babies, 4.1% in children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and 5.2% of cases in children with congenital heart defects were fatal.
Excerpt from the RKI guide to RSV
RSV is “one of the most important causative agents of respiratory infections in infants, particularly premature infants and young children.” These numbers show why: Of the children hospitalized for this reason, around one in 500 previously healthy children (with no known increased risk) die from it. Converted to Germany , this would mean “20 to 30 dead children a year”. Unfortunately, there are no detailed studies with current figures. The study situation is also made more difficult by the fact that RSV not subject to reporting . One thing is clear, even in this country, children with risk factors are affected more often and more severely.
There are estimates that 120,000 children die from RSV every year. However, as you say, this is worldwide. The majority of children who become seriously ill are in developing countries. Children also die from RSV in Germany.
Martin Wetzke to RND
The infections that were lost due to the Covid protective measures are currently being made up, argues Dr. Wetzke. The only problem is: the intensive care units for children and premature babies are more full than ever, there are too few beds and too few staff.
Who is RSV dangerous for?
As described above, premature babies and children with certain previous illnesses are particularly affected. But among the almost 0.5 percent of children who are seriously ill in their first year of life, there are also a large number of children who were previously “without any known increased risk”. RSV infections generally affect all age groups. “Severe RSV-related illnesses in children that require hospitalization affect boys about twice as often as girls,” says the RKI guide .
Patients at risk who can become seriously ill with an RSV infection include premature babies, children with previous pulmonary illnesses (e.g. bronchopulmonary dysplasia, cystic fibrosis, neurological and muscular diseases with limited ventilation) and children with heart defects with increased pulmonary blood flow, adults with previous cardiac or pulmonary illnesses as well all immunodeficient and immunosuppressed people. Recipients of hematopoietic cell transplants, recipients of lung or other organ transplants, and severely immunocompromised patients with malignant hematological diseases are particularly at risk.
High-risk patients according to the RKI
Infection in hospital is significant in premature babies, immunodeficient and immunosuppressed people. The RS virus is one of the most important pathogens causing “nosocomial” infection and pneumonia in infants and young children.
Symptoms and therapy for an RSV infection
Unfortunately, the respiratory syncytial virus cannot be treated directly; you can only do something about the symptoms. For therapy, it is advisable to drink enough fluids to mobilize secretions and to keep the nasopharynx clear with saline nasal rinses or drops. Antipyretic measures can also be helpful. In more severe cases, inpatient monitoring is important, especially if oxygen administration, respiratory support or ventilation become necessary.
Symptoms in infants:
- Rapid, labored breathing
- Lack of strength
- Pale skin color
- Drinking weakness
- Possibly a breathing space
- Possibly increased temperature or fever
- Possibly cool fingers and hands
The RKI advises: “As soon as parents have the impression that their child is having shortness of breath or that their breathing is rapid, difficult or irregular, or that they are drinking less fluid, they should definitely consult a pediatrician. In children with previous illnesses and premature babies, the first warning signs such as cough and fever should always be checked by a doctor. For individual medical advice, please contact a pediatrician or pediatric clinic in your area who, if possible, specializes in infectious diseases.”
The intensive care units are full, why?
“The statistics must be checked, the RSV virus is not a reason why the dramatic occupancy of the intensive care unit in children and premature babies should suddenly increase so sharply,” it is claimed. That is not right. There are two main reasons why intensive care units for children and premature babies are so full: There are currently a lot of RSV cases. And there is a lack of beds and staff.
RS cases had already increased in winter 2021 compared to 2020. At the time, cell biologist Sigrid März examined the phenomenon for Spectrum of Science. Your assessment at the time, just like Wetzke's : catch-up effects.
The fact that the RS virus is hitting younger children so strongly and severely this time is due to the corona pandemic. In autumn and winter 2020, the aim was to reduce contacts and wear masks at all times. Daycare centers and schools closed again and again and public life was scaled back. The measures have not only slowed down the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. “In winter 2020/2021 we saw almost no RSV infections in German children’s hospitals. The cold season is basically canceled,” says pediatrician Rodeck. The RS virus simply had no opportunity to spread.
Sigrid März: Why many children have to go to the clinic
At the beginning of December this year, specialists had already expressed their alarm. “Children are dying because we can no longer care for them,” said Michael Sasse , the senior physician in pediatric intensive care at the Hannover Medical School. The situation was already precarious beforehand; the “enormous wave of RSV infections” made the situation even worse. “Now three years of children will suffer from these infections because they are running around without face masks,” he criticizes the latest changes to the Covid measures. The President of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine said that waiting times of six or seven hours were not uncommon in some emergency rooms.
But that is only part of the dramatic situation: Instead of 607 children's intensive care beds, there were only 367 . A full 40 percent less, said the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi), primarily due to a lack of staff. Young patients from the emergency room or emergency services have to compete for these few beds. Inquiries also come from clinics with a lower level of care. Every second clinic has to turn away critically ill children. A contribution from NDR “Hello Lower Saxony” shows the whole misery: RS virus: pediatricians’ practices and children’s clinics at the limit .
However, there is also good news for those children who have not yet become infected with the RS virus due to the Covid measures: There is no “infection account” and no immunological catching up to do. Friedrich Reichert , senior physician at the pediatric interdisciplinary emergency room at the Stuttgart Clinic, explains: “The immune system works great, even after the measures - there is no evidence that the absence of infections would somehow weaken the immune system.”
Wrong priorities in pediatric medicine
“Politicians are responsible for the fact that children’s lives are in danger at the moment,” explains the spokesman for the professional association of pediatricians, Jakob Maske . The economic viability of pediatric wards was not previously a focus. “Now medicine has to be profitable, not curing diseases, but making money.” What went wrong and how is that expressed?
“Premature intensive care medicine is the most lucrative line of business in pediatric and adolescent medicine,” was criticized in the audio message. The former pediatrician is not alone in making this claim. The ARD has dedicated its own “Story on the First” to the topic. The editorial network Germany looked at the criticism and came to a similar conclusion:
Babies that are born well before their due date without medical necessity? Seriously ill people who are ventilated for longer than absolutely necessary? What seems difficult to imagine has apparently long since become part of everyday life in some German clinics - for financial reasons. Clinics can earn a lot of money by treating prematurely born children or intensive care patients.
RND: “How much money does a premature baby bring?”: TV documentary reveals unbelievable conditions in hospitals
No medical connection between RSV and Covid
The respiratory syncytial virus has nothing to do with SARS-CoV-2, and nothing with the mRNA vaccinations against Covid, as the former pediatrician claims . The major problems that we currently have to solve worldwide with the RS virus are related to limited or lacking medical infrastructure and the Covid measures. The former requires more funding. For the second, a policy that does not mean having to submit to populist constraints.
CONCLUSION
No, RSV is not “completely harmless”, even children without previous illnesses can die from it. There is currently no vaccination and therapy is only directed against symptoms. This means: Prevention is the best strategy against the RS virus.
We must therefore stop looking at medical institutions only from an economic perspective and equip them with the financial resources that are needed to ensure good medical care for everyone - including our little ones.
The now well-known Covid protective measures have proven - as was already suspected in advance - to be effective against a number of other infectious diseases. Influenza numbers are down and so are RSV numbers. But unfortunately there are postponement effects that we cannot ignore. Of course, if the mask requirement falls during the peak season for these diseases, the numbers skyrocket. We need to act more proactively in the future!
Do you have further questions about RSV? The Robert Koch Institute has already answered the most important ones in the guide and FAQs . You can find an overview of research and diagnostics here .
Sources: RKI , RND , NDR , Deutschlandfunk Nova , tagesschau.de , n-tv.de , Business Insider , transcribed audio message ( archived )
More fact checks: RSV infection and corona vaccination are unrelated
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