As we head into fall and eventually winter, children may once again be exposed to many cold viruses.

One of the worst is called Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV for short.

For most of us big people, and even for big kids, if we catch RSV we get nothing more than a cold. But in a baby’s tiny lungs, RSV can cause a reaction similar to an asthma attack, causing them to wheeze.

Remarkably, most infants who get RSV continue to be fairly happy and healthy even though they are wheezing. But some infants get very sick, have trouble breathing, and even need to be hospitalized.

Unfortunately, even though RSV resembles an asthma attack, none of the standard asthma treatments are very useful. Usually infants hospitalized because of RSV just need extra oxygen and time to get over this illness.

Infants born prematurely have a greater chance of having a more severe illness from an RSV infection. While there is no medicine that cures RSV, there is one which can potentially prevent it. This medicine is called Synagis.

Synagis is given as a monthly injection and contains antibodies against RSV that can help prevent RSV infection or make it less severe.

Over the last few years, many studies have shown that RSV infections are becoming less severe and hospitalization rates are dropping. While no one knows for sure, the experts do not feel this is because of Synagis.

In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics just changed their guidelines for using Synagis. The new guidelines mean Synagis will be used in a smaller number of infants than previously recommended. This year’s criteria aim to protect the most fragile premature infants or those with significant heart or lung disease.

For more information about these changes or RSV infections, especially if your child was born prematurely or has significant health problems, please talk with your pediatrician or other health care provider.

Dr. Jeff Ribordy is a Regional Medical Director of Partnership HealthPlan of California, a nonprofit community based health care organization that contracts with the state to administer Medi-Cal benefits through local care providers, to ensure Medi-Cal recipients have access to comprehensive, cost-effective health care. First offering services in Solano County in 1994, PHC now provides quality health care to over 473,500 members in 14 Northern California counties - Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Trinity and Yolo.