Have you ever heard of RSV? Do you know someone who has become ill from this very serious virus? Since this virus affects nearly 100% of all babies by the time they turn 2 years of age, it is something we all need to be educated about.
So what is RSV? RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is a highly contagious viral lung disease that may infect a person’s breathing passages and their lungs and could lead to pneumonia.
Myths about Viruses? A virus IS contagious. There is a common belief out in the world that viruses are not contagious but bacterial infections are. Both are contagious but viruses are not cured by an antibiotic whereas bacterial infections generally do clear up with an antibiotic.
What are the symptoms of RSV? RSV may start off as a typical cold with mild to moderate symptoms in full-term babies who are healthy. Unfortunately for premature babies with immature immune systems and underdeveloped lungs, this virus can raise their risk for developing severe RSV disease which can potentially lead to hospitalization. RSV starts with cold like symptoms which includes cough and runny nose that can last one to two weeks.
Call your physician if you notice:
*High fever (especially if it is greater than 100.4°F in infants under 3 months of age)
*Cough what is persistent and produces yellow, green, or gray discharge or wheezy
*Difficulty breathing – rapid, difficult, or gasping for breath (get medical attention immediately)
*Bluish coloring around the mouth and/or fingernails (get medical attention immediately)
*Thick discharge from the nose
*Refusing to breast feed or drink from a bottle
*Change in behavior, listless, irritable
*Dehydration symptoms- dry or little urine in diaper for 6 hours, no tears when crying, and cool, dry skin.
Did you know that there is increased risk populations?
Along with preterm babies there is data that indicates that RSV affects multicultural infants at a higher rate than Caucasian infants. Both African-American and Hispanic communities are at a higher risk of developing the RSV disease. Most likely this is because both the African-American and Hispanic communities that have a higher percentage of premature babies. Currently according to data collected, one in eight Hispanic babies is born preterm. It is likely that the high number of preterm births in these multicultural infants are the cause of their increased risk for RSV.
How is RSV contracted?
RSV is highly contagious and is contracted through respiratory droplets in the air from sneezing, coughing, and inhaling the secretions but it is also spread through direct contact from surfaces, shaking hands, etc, touching your nose or eyes with your hands that have been infected with the respiratory droplets.
Is there a treatment for RSV?
Unfortunately there is no treatment for RSV once they are infected with the disease. That is why it is especially important to learn ways to prevent this disease from being contracted to your child and family. It is a good idea to talk to your physician to see what your child’s risk factors are in contracting this disease.
Here are some facts to know about RSV:
- RSV is for mostly at its worst from the months of November through March although geographically this can change from year to year.
- RSV is the leading reason why children under their first year of life need to be hospitalized in the United States.
- RSV is the reason for one in every 38 trips to the emergency rooms in children under 5 years of age.
- Did you know that in the United States RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in the first year of life? Of the 125,000 children that are hospitalized, there are 400 infant deaths each year.
- Although this RSV disease affects nearly 100% of all kids, many parents are not aware of or haven’t heard of it in the past.
What are some ways to prevent or help to minimize your child’s risk in contracting RSV?
- Stay away from people that are sick or have recently been ill.
- Please keep your child away from others if they have been sick as well.
- Try not and take your child into a crowd of people during RSV season.
- Make hand washing a common practice and ask others to do the same.
- Wash bedding, blankets, clothes, toys, pacifiers, etc. often.
- Do not let anyone smoke around your child.
- Don’t share glasses or utensils with anyone.
Please visti www.RSVprotection.com to learn more about RSV.
