RSV Stinks!!!!!!

Our poor little "Z" (foster baby) has RSV and doesn't feel good at all. The day before yesterday, "Z" came down with what seemed to be a simple cold. He had no fever, not really fussy at all, no feeding problems, etc His only sign that something was wrong was his stuffy nose & a little coughing. So we turned on the vaporizer and treated him for a cold. Well, yesterday and into last night "Z" took off really sick. It happened VERY quickly. He went from sniffles to vomiting, fever, not eating, retracting, etc I called his ped and took him in. She first did a pulse/ox and it came back as not good. So she decided to do an RSV mucus test and it came back as positive for RSV.  She started him on around the clock breathing treatments and now we just have to wait it out. It's a virus so it has to run it's course. It usually takes a few days ,but it can take up to weeks to pass. It's up to Z's body to fight it off.

I figured this would be a good time to share with you info on RSV. This virus is bad stuff for babies and especially young babies, preemies, and children with poor immune systems.

 How I first learned about RSV was about 9 years ago. I stood over my best friend's baby as they worked to revive her. It was by far one of the scariest things I've ever witnessed. Her baby took off sick very quickly (within like a six hour period she went from smiling to lifeless). She had RSV and because she was born a preemie with a weak immune system it really hit her hard. She spent 2 weeks at Children's in the ICU unit.

So what is RSV? RSV is Respiratory Syncytial Virus. It is a type of cold virus. It is very easy to catch and infects most children during their first two years. Most children with RSV only show cold symptoms such as:

*Coughing

*Fever

*Runny nose

*Wheezing and fast breathing

Adults & older children may have or carry RSV but have no symptoms or very mild symptoms, like a regular cold. They may have RSV and not even know it ,but to an infant RSV can be very serious and even fatal.

A test of the mucus from your child's nose can be done to determine if your child has RSV.

*A child can have RSV for several days up to a few weeks.

*RSV is most common in Spring, Fall, and Winter.

How is RSV spread?

RSV is spread mostly by coughing & sneezing. The virus can live on any object for hours which makes it easy to pick up and spread.

Ways to help stop the spread:

1.Frequent hand washing

2.Washing all items child has had contact with.

3.Limit contact with others.

4.Cough & sneeze into the bend of the arm instead of into hands.

How is RSV Treated?

RSV is treated by:

*Giving extra fluids by I.V if child can't take or hold down fluids.

*Using breathing treatments

*Giving oxygen,if needed.

What to expect after treatment?

After treatment, your child may:

*Cough for several weeks

*Have more coughing than expected with colds for weeks or even  months after RSV.

Please keep little Z in your prayers.

We are praying for a speedy recovery.