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Symptoms of rhinovirus infection
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The incubation period of rhinovirus infection is from 1 to 5 days, more often 2-3 days. The disease begins acutely with general malaise, chills, subfebrile body temperature, nasal congestion, sneezing, a sensation of a foreign body in the throat or awkwardness, scratching, coughing. Mild pain in the bridge of the nose and body aches are often noted. By the end of the first day, the nose is completely blocked. Copious watery-serous discharge appears. The mucous membrane of the nasal cavity is hyperemic, edematous. Due to abundant nasal discharge and frequent use of handkerchiefs, the skin of the nasal vestibule is macerated. Sometimes herpes appears on the lips and in the nasal vestibule. The child's face is somewhat pasty, there is profuse lacrimation from the eyes, the sclera are injected. Mild hyperemia and swelling of the mucous membrane of the palatine tonsils, anterior arches, and posterior pharyngeal wall are possible. Sometimes children complain of heaviness in the nasal area, complete loss of smell, taste, and hearing loss. Some patients may experience increased cough, tracheitis, and tracheobronchitis. On the 2nd-3rd day of illness, nasal discharge becomes thicker, mucopurulent, indicating the addition of a bacterial infection. The illness lasts up to 5-7 days.
Complications of rhinovirus infection are usually caused by bacterial infection. Sinusitis, otitis, and maxillary sinusitis are most common.
Rhinovirus infection in newborns and children of the first year of life. In newborns, the disease occurs when the mother does not have immunity against rhinoviruses circulating in the area. The disease usually manifests itself as catarrh of the upper respiratory tract. The body temperature rises, nasal congestion, mucous discharge from it, anxiety, sleep disorders, loss of appetite (due to difficulty breathing through the nose) are noted. Tracheobronchitis symptoms occur more often than in older children. Patients are bothered by a cough, dry wheezing is often heard in the lungs. Often the disease occurs as a mixed viral-bacterial infection.
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