DANVILLE - Geisinger Medical Center (GMC) in Danville and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center (GWV) in Wilkes-Barre have issued restrictions temporarily prohibiting children under the age of 5 from visiting the children's and women's inpatient units because of the seasonal increase in pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases.
"This time each year, the number of RSV infections in children rise precipitously," said pediatrician Michael Ryan, chairman of Geisinger's Janet Weis Children's Hospital.
Ryan said it's common for hospitals to initiate sibling visitor restrictions for the protection of patients.
"This is an annual practice and is usually lifted at the end of the winter season," he said.
RSV is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. While most healthy people recover from RSV infection, it can be severe in infants. Winter is an especially harsh time for this illness. In the United States, RSV infections generally occur from November to April.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age. Each year, 75,000 to 125,000 children in this age group are hospitalized due to RSV infection.
