🤧 RSV Severity in Infants & Elderly Simulator

RSV Enters the Airway — How Infection Begins

RSV attaches to ciliated respiratory epithelial cells and starts spreading.

• 4–6 days: Incubation period (placeholder timing figure)
• Fall–winter: Peak season (placeholder seasonal note)
• Epithelium: Primary target (placeholder cell type)
• Droplet/contact: Transmission (placeholder route)

Viral attachment and early replication

RSV fusion protein binds host receptors and triggers cell entry.

Local spread within the respiratory tract

Infection spreads from upper to lower airway over several days.

Age strongly shapes where and how severely RSV spreads next.

Bronchiolitis in Infants — Small Airways, Big Consequences

Infant airways are narrow, so mucus and swelling block airflow easily.

• 2–6 months: Peak age (placeholder age range)
• Small: Airway diameter (placeholder anatomic note)
• Wheezing: Key sign (placeholder clinical sign)
• Self-limited: Common outcome (placeholder outcome note)

Mucus plugging and airway narrowing

Inflammatory debris and mucus obstruct already-narrow infant airways.

Work of breathing increases

Infants show retractions and rapid breathing as obstruction worsens.

Severe plugging can trap air and impair oxygen exchange quickly.

RSV Pneumonia in Older Adults — Alveolar Consolidation

In elderly patients RSV can descend deep into alveoli causing pneumonia.

• 65+ years: Higher risk age (placeholder age threshold)
• Consolidation: Key finding (placeholder imaging note)
• COPD/CHF: Comorbidity link (placeholder comorbidity note)
• Elevated: Case fatality (placeholder mortality note)

Alveolar fluid accumulation

Fluid and inflammatory cells fill alveolar spaces reducing gas exchange.

Reduced reserve in older lungs

Aging lungs and comorbidities limit compensation for lost function.

Underlying heart or lung disease compounds RSV pneumonia severity.

Risk Factors That Amplify RSV Severity

Prematurity, COPD, and heart disease each raise hospitalization odds.

• High risk: Prematurity (placeholder infant factor)
• High risk: COPD (placeholder elderly factor)
• High risk: Heart disease (placeholder elderly factor)
• High risk: Immunosuppression (placeholder shared factor)

Infant-specific risk contributors

Prematurity and congenital heart disease worsen infant RSV outcomes.

Elderly-specific risk contributors

COPD, heart failure, and frailty worsen elderly RSV outcomes.

Risk factor burden scales hospitalization risk in the simulator directly.

Determining Overall Hospitalization Risk

Age group and risk burden combine into a final hospitalization estimate.

• <40%: Low risk band (placeholder threshold)
• 40–70%: Enhanced band (placeholder threshold)
• >70%: ICU band (placeholder threshold)
• 2 sliders: Model inputs (placeholder input count)

Combining age and risk burden

The simulator blends age group and risk score into one gauge.

Monitoring level recommendation

Higher combined risk triggers escalated monitoring recommendations automatically.

This mirrors how clinicians weigh age and comorbidities together.