Respiratory Roulette: COVID, RSV and Other Respiratory Viruses

Fitting the unprecedented nature of the last 18 months, summer 2021 ushered in an unusual, very early respiratory season in pediatrics. Between the rise of the Delta variant, national nursing shortages, contentious mask mandates and the eager anticipation of EUA approval for the COVID vaccine use in kids ages 5 to 11, healthcare providers find ourselves in a sobering reality as we consider what the winter respiratory season may hold.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss the 2021 respiratory season

In this episode, Heather De Keyser, MD, and Oren Kupfer, MD, join us to discuss the 2021 respiratory season and implications for patients with breathing problems.

Dr. De Keyser is a faculty member in the Breathing Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Kupfer is the Inpatient Medical Director of the Breathing Institute at Children’s Colorado and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• 2021 respiratory season patterns and implications for kids with asthma
• How to tease out causes of respiratory symptoms
• How pandemic lessons may inform future recommendations for children with respiratory disease
• Making individual risk-benefit analyses for children with respiratory disease and their families
• COVID outcomes among children with chronic lung disease
• Considerations for weaning children off asthma medications
• Importance of maintaining contact with respiratory patients during the pandemic
• Discussing flu and COVID vaccination with families
• How obesity may increase COVID risk

Treatment of respiratory disease at Children’s Colorado

The Breathing Institute at Children’s Colorado treats respiratory and sleep disorders from the common to the complex. Our pediatric pulmonologists care for children with shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, noisy breathing, oxygen dependency, recurrent pneumonia and other pediatric breathing conditions. Our nationally recognized program is the largest in the region, and our experts pioneered many of the standard practices used to diagnose and treat pediatric respiratory disease today.