CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : ORANGE COUNTY : Flu-Like Virus Threatens Babies

An outbreak of a flu-like respiratory virus that is especially harmful to infants is rapidly spreading in Orange County and has left four babies in intensive care on respirators at a local hospital, health officials said Friday. Although the disease--respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)--ordinarily is no more severe than a bad cold or influenza, doctors warned that it can progress into pneumonia or other potentially fatal diseases if left unchecked, especially in babies or children with chronic respiratory ailments. Some hospitals report treating twice as many children for RSV and other respiratory ailments this year. “We would definitely term it an outbreak, and it could go to an epidemic,” said Marilyn Gallagher of Kaiser Permanente’s Anaheim Medical Center. But in Los Angeles County, there is “nothing at all unusual” about this year’s flu season, according to Frank Sorvillo of the county health department.