What is the Difference Between RSV and Influenza

The key difference between RSV and Influenza is that RSV or respiratory syncytial virus is a virus that causes respiratory tract infections mainly in children younger than one year, while influenza is a virus that causes seasonal flu mainly in children and older adults.

Respiratory tract infections are infections that occur in the parts of the respiratory tract, which involve the sinuses, throat, airways, and lungs. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other infectious agents can cause respiratory infections. Infections with viruses in the respiratory tract can cause complications like tonsillitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Some of these viruses can cause severe illnesses in certain age groups. RSV and influenza are two viruses that commonly cause respiratory tract infections in children.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is RSV 
3. What is Influenza
4. Similarities – RSV and Influenza
5. RSV vs Influenza in Tabular Form
6. Summary – RSV vs Influenza

What is RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus)?

RSV is a virus that causes respiratory infections, mainly in younger children. It causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract. RSV is a single-stranded RNA virus. This infection is most common in children less than 2 years old. RSV can also infect adults. However, in adults and older healthy children, RSV symptoms are mild and typically mimic the common cold. Self-care measures are normally all that is needed to relieve any discomfort due to RSV infection. The symptoms of RSV infection may include congested or runny nose, dry cough, low-grade fever, sore throat, sneezing, headache, severe cough, rapid breathing cyanosis, poor feeding, lethargy, and irritability. The complications caused by RSV infection include hospitalization, pneumonia, middle ear infection, asthma, and repeated infections.

Moreover, RSV infection can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood tests to check white blood cell counts, chest X-ray, swabs of secretions for checking the virus, and pulse oximetry. Furthermore, RSV infection can be treated through supportive care (acetaminophen to reduce the fever), hospital care (intravenous fluids, humidified oxygen, and breathing machine), lifestyle and home remedies (creating moist air to breathe, drinking fluids, trying saline nasal drops, using over the counter pain relievers, and staying away from smoking).

What is Influenza?

Influenza is a virus that causes seasonal flu mainly in children and older adults. Influenza virus has singled stranded segmented RNA. There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C, and D. Influenza A affects birds and mammals. Influenza B and C primarily affect humans. Influenza D affects cattle and pigs. The common signs and symptoms of the influenza flu may include fever, aching muscles, headache,  sore throat, chills and sweats, dry, persistent cough, shortness of breath, tiredness, runny or stuffy nose, eye pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea. The complications that are caused due to influenza flu may include pneumonia, asthma flare-ups, bronchitis, ear infections, heart problems, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Moreover, influenza infection can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood testing, and PCR testing. Furthermore, the treatment options and prevention for influenza infection include taking more rest, fluids, and antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir, zanamivir, peramivir, baloxavir, and vaccines.

What are the Similarities Between RSV and Influenza?

• RSV and influenza are two viruses that commonly cause respiratory infections in children.
• Both viruses can affect adults as well.
• They have a single-stranded RNA genome.
• Both viruses cause huge damage to the respiratory tract of people having low immunity.
• Both viruses can cause complications.
• The infections that are caused by these viruses can be treated through getting rest and antiviral drugs.

What is the Difference Between RSV and Influenza?

RSV is a virus that causes respiratory tract infections mainly in younger children, while influenza is a virus that causes seasonal flu mainly in children and older adults. Thus, this is the key difference between RSV and influenza. Furthermore, there are no vaccines available to treat infections caused by RSV, but there are multiple vaccines available to treat infections caused by influenza.

The below infographic presents the differences between RSV and influenza in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – RSV vs Influenza

Respiratory tract infections can be caused mainly by bacteria and viruses. RSV and influenza are two viruses that commonly cause respiratory tract infections. Both of these viruses can cause upper respiratory tract infections as well as lower respiratory tract infections. RSV mainly causes respiratory tract infections in younger children. On the other hand, influenza causes seasonal flu in both children and older adults. So, this is the key difference between RSV and influenza.

Reference:

1. “Key Facts about Influenza (Flu).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Aug. 2022.
2. “Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 9 Jan. 2021.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)” By NIH Image Gallery  (CC BY-NC 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Viruses-12-00504-g001” By Hi Eun Jung and Heung Kyu Lee – MDPI (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia