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SALT LAKE CITY — Sometimes it feels like Amanda Hartelust, a mother of three, just can't catch a break.
About once a month, Hartelust estimates, either she, her husband, or one of their three young kids are sick. This week, it's her 7-year-old daughter Savannah who was loping listlessly around Liberty Park.
"We think it's some kind of stomach bug," said Hartelust, who said Savannah was feeling better after taking some ibuprofen. "(My 5-year-old) had it two days ago and it ended, and now she's got it."
For those who, like Hartelust, sometimes feel like their family can't stop getting sick, they're not alone — said University of Utah pediatrics professor Carrie Byington, who spent a year tracking 26 Utah families and the viruses in their noses.
"We found that viruses are extremely common in families," Byington said. "Children younger than 5 had viruses in their nose 50 percent of the year."
The more children in a family, the more likely someone in the household will have a viral infection at any given point, the study suggests.
The results showed that people living with no children tested positive for a virus three or four weeks a year. But for families with one child, at least one member tested positive for a virus in his or her nose about 18 weeks a year.
And in big households with six children, at least one member of the family was infected 87 percent of the time, or about 45 weeks of the year.
"Parents come in very frequently with their children and they say, 'They're sick all the time. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my child?'" Byington said. "And for me to be able to show them these data and say, 'Your child is 2, it's normal for them to have seven different respiratory infections in a year, it's normal for them to have a virus in their nose half the year' — that's really helpful."
Byington said the ambitious study was made possible by two things: one, Utah's traditionally large family sizes; and two, a Salt Lake City-based biotech company called BioFire Diagnostics.
For me to be able to show (parents) these data and say, 'Your child is 2, it's normal for them to have seven different respiratory infections in a year, it's normal for them to have a virus in their nose half the year' — that's really helpful.
–Carrie Byington, U. pediatrics professor
Scientists there worked with Byington and other U. researchers to develop a respiratory virus panel that uses trace amounts of viral DNA to identify 16 viruses at once. The test returns results in 65 minutes.
"The days of the doctor guessing how best to treat you are over," said BioFire marketing vice president Wade Stevenson. "We can get an answer back to your physician fast enough to where she can make an informed decision about how best to treat you, whether that involves admitting you to the hospital or giving you an antiviral or just treating your symptoms."
But if Byington's findings sound alarming, there's good news: People who tested positive for viral infections rarely sought medical care.
That's because they were only symptomatic 56 percent of the time, even though some viruses can stay positive for weeks at a time. Byington recalled one child who had the same virus in his nose 23 weeks in a row but didn't show symptoms the whole time.
That suggests the occasional cold or stomach bug, while inconvenient, may be normal — or even a good thing.
"We think that you get a lot of viruses very early on and then you begin to develop your immunity," Byington said. "There's still a lot we need to study about that."
Byington said her team plans to write several more papers based on the same data set, focusing on the specific viruses they tested. Some, like bocavirus, are still a source of debate in the medical community, where doctors disagree about whether it causes illness.
For the Hartelusts, who recently moved from Salt Lake City to Puerto Rico, the sooner the better.
They flew back to Utah to visit family and friends, only to realize those friends were waging their own battles against stomach bugs and common colds.
"I've been trying to arrange a playdate with my friend for two days, but their kids are sick, too," Hartelust said, laughing. "So we have to wait."
Daphne Chen is a reporter for the Deseret News. Most Email: dchen@deseretnews.com.
