JTA – Hundreds of infants in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn are currently infected with a respiratory virus that usually does not circulate in the spring, raising fears that infections in these communities could again become an indicator of what’s to come elsewhere in New York City and across the country.
At least 15 patients in Dr Israel Zyskind’s pediatric practice in Borough Park are currently hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a virus that shows little more than a common cold in adults, but can be dangerous for infants and young children.
Typically, according to Dr. Zyskind, no more than a handful of children in his office are hospitalized at the same time with RSV. And these hospitalizations take place during the winter, not when the weather warms.
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The recent explosion of RSV cases in the Orthodox neighborhood of Brooklyn is on New York City’s radar. According to the city’s health department, there were 10 documented cases of RSV in Brooklyn during the last week of February. During the week of April 4-10, there were 294.
The cases have emerged in Williamsburg, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, Kensington and Midwood.
“Parents and caregivers are encouraged to keep sick children at home and to prevent anyone with cold symptoms from coming into contact with young children,” advises the Department of Health. “If children have difficulty breathing, wheezing, do not eat or drink, parents should contact their health care provider immediately. “
Illustration: Members of the Orthodox Jewish community wait for school buses to pick them up in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City on October 8, 2020 (AP Photo / John Minchillo)
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The unusual outbreak of RSV in Brooklyn’s Orthodox neighborhoods comes just over a year after the neighborhood experienced some of the first outbreaks of COVID-19. At the time, community practices and multigenerational families living under the same roof were seen as factors creating conditions conducive to the spread of the disease, especially before instructions were given to stop gatherings and stay at home. House.
These same conditions could make communities early indicators of disease patterns that appear after COVID-19 recedes.
RSV is one of the most common illnesses that has receded during the pandemic, which surprised many doctors. The virus, which causes symptoms such as a runny nose, cough and fever, and can cause children to tend to eat less, is easily spread in schools and nurseries. Most children get the virus when they are 2 years old, and most of them are not infected with the virus. But RSV can cause more serious illness in babies, whose airways are smaller and are not immune to the virus.
According to CDC, [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Centres pour le contrôle et la prévention des maladies] over 57,000 children under 5 are hospitalized each year with RSV. Between 100 and 500 children die from RSV each year. No vaccine exists.
This winter, a time when RSV normally circulates a lot, doctors in Brooklyn said they saw few or no cases. But that has changed in recent weeks.
Prior to that, RSV had spread out of season elsewhere. Australia experienced a similar epidemic in the fall, when the weather is warm. Doctors nationwide have speculated that lockdown measures taken last year have prevented people from contracting RSV, reducing the level of immunity to the virus in the general population upon release from lockdown.
Zyskind believes something similar could be happening in Brooklyn.
“Breastfeeding mothers, who protect their infants with passive immunity, are unable to pass on this robust immunity to their infants this year because they were not exposed to these viral diseases last year as they were. usually are, ”the doctor said.
“In addition, many of the toddlers with mild illness escaped the typical RSV season last year, are not immune to RSV and therefore pass it on to their siblings or those around them. “
Dr Ben Katz, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and an expert in infectious diseases, proposed another theory.
Illustration: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks with his daughters in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on Tuesday, April 7, 2020 (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)
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“When a virus arrives in a community, the others usually go away,” Katz said, explaining that one virus will crowd out others.
This theory has also been used to explain why this year’s flu season has been almost nonexistent, bypassing the nightmarish scenario some feared if the flu and the coronavirus spread simultaneously.
It is not clear why the virus circulates so quickly in Orthodox communities and appears much less frequently in other communities in New York City.
The fact that families are more numerous in Orthodox communities may explain the increase in the spread, as more children per household can catch the virus in school and take it home to their younger brothers and sisters. The cramped living conditions in some Orthodox neighborhoods can also contribute.
While most schools in the United States offer online classes or hold face-to-face meetings taking precautions such as wearing masks and social distancing, many Orthodox schools, especially in Hasidic neighborhoods, have been much more lax when it comes to COVID-related precautions. This laxity can create an environment in which other viruses, not just the coronavirus, can spread more easily.
But the question of why cases are on the increase now, when schools in Orthodox communities have been open since the start of the school year, remains unanswered.
“We’re trying to figure out why this is where it happens first,” Zyskind said, noting that child care centers across the country have been open for months. “But I really don’t know why this is happening in our community. “
Doctors are already predicting the possibility of a more intense flu season next year due to fewer people having contracted the disease this year.
“We live in a very delicate ecosystem in balance,” said Zyskind. “The lockdowns were necessary to stop COVID, but there will be a cost at the other end for the other viral illnesses that were avoided during the lockdowns. “
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