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Took my 9 month old grandson to DR today for a bad cough he has had since Friday. Dr sent us to hospital for RSV test. ( results tomorrow) I have been reading on some of the websites about RSV but still wondering if anyone else has faced this? We cannot figure out where he may have caught this, since we don't get out alot. Dr said to keep him on nebulizer ( Albuterol and Pulmicort) and give him plenty of fluids. He is eating well and still playful. We were told in September that it was allergies and after 2 weeks he was fine. Does RSV go away and then come back? My mother in law is scaring us to death with horror stories of what could happen ( choking, losing breath,etc) trust me we are scared enough as it is without her help. Plus telling us that we shouldn't have taken him out in public this past week ( she swears it is a cold that has turned into bronchitis....no she is not a dr) How long does RSV last? When can he go out of the house? (We figure that going anywhere for Thanksgiving is out of the question) Is there anything else we can do if he does have RSV? Thanks for letting me vent about mother in law and thanks for any suggestions.
My son had RSV right after his first birthday. It is kind of a blur now (he'll be 8 in January), but there were definitely several doctor's visits, nebulizer treatments for at least a few weeks, maybe a month, and lots of fear on my part!
RSV is a virus that makes the bronchioles in the lungs fill with mucus. Usually healthy full term babies fight it off easily, but sometimes it can be serious. Babies who were born prematurely or who are sick tend to have a harder time. (My son actually was full term with no health problems, and I don't know why it affected him severely.)
No, chances are that the RSV that he has now isn't related to the cold he had in September. If I understand correctly, RSV typically causes cold-like symptoms in most kids but in some babies/kids it can turn into a severe respiratory problem. Keep a good eye on it, because it can go from mild to extremely serious very quickly... I remember hemming and hawing over whether my baby had to go to the doctor at all in the early morning, then seeing the doctor around noon and having him need a breathing treatment, to my son gasping and retracting by dinnertime. If you see that he's having any distressed breathing, call your doctor immediately or go right to the hospital if you think it's that bad. We were thankfully able to avoid going to the hospital beacuse we had seen the doctor early and started the breathing treatments with the nebulizer, but it was a close call.
I hope that your grandson will recover with no problem!
My kid had it as a baby and got over it just fine...I realize the little one can stir up all kinds of worries...we were at the pediatrician every other week for this and that...I suppose we were paying for the guy's medical school loans. One winter, I was sick the entire time -- catching everything my kid caught, not sleeping for weeks due to bronchitis/asthma...after dear one finished preschool and attended kindergarten at home, we had absolutely no illnesses the following winter...here are six things that have helped: avoid toddler/baby nurseries, pediatrician offices, indoor playgrounds, keep anti-bacterial lotion in your purse/car and always apply after going out to the mall, etc., never go outside w/ wet hair, and never go outside unless prepared for the elements -- eg., hat, gloves, in addition to coat at playground, etc.
My daughter was hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus when she was 8 weeks old. For about a week before then she had been not sleeping well, coughing a lot, and coughing up/vomiting large amounts of mucus. I didn't realize how serious it was, made an appointment and took her to the doctor and the doctor was alarmed and took her immediately to the ER for an RSV test, which was positive, and she was admitted. Doctor told me later that she was afraid my daughter might stop breathing on the way to the ER. She was hospitalized for a week, in a croup tent with continuous ribavirin being misted into the tent at a cost of $500/day for the medicine (and that was in 1988 so I'm sure it's more expensive now).
Doctor told me that RSV is actually a common virus and little kids carry the virus all the time but to them it's not dangerous and they can fight it off fine. But for a younger baby or sicker child it can be deadly. I had a 3-year-old daughter at the time who was in day care and the doctor said she could have easily picked it up at day care and given it to her baby sister.
RSV is so common. It can get bad but it is usually in smaller infants. RSV in adults is like a cold. You really just need to monitor him. Make sure he is getting his breathing treatments, lots of fluids, prop him up at night to help him breath better, humidify the air, make sure to suction his nose out if needed...again, fluid intake is key. A lot of the time, kids get admitted to hospitals because of dehydration.
I am an RT that works with kids. This is really all you can do at home.
Thank you all for the replies. My son (22 now) was never diagnosed with this, so this is all new to us. We are now using a cool mist vaporizer and he is drinking alot of juice(mixed with water). Dr said that it is a good sign that he is still eating very well and wanting to play. I have read that this is very contagious, so here are a few more questions. Can adults get this? We are concerned with elderly great grandparents and another family member who is on alot of heart meds. Do they need to tell Dr that they have been exposed? Are the symptoms the same as a child's symptoms? With the weather here, it is hard to tell if it is a cold or sinuses. Thanks again for your help.
Yes - adults do get RSV and just like influenza, the elderly often get very sick from this virus. I would keep your grandson away from elderly or frail relatives for at least three weeks from the onset of symptoms.
There is no real treatment for the virus itself - just supportive care like you have been doing.
someone else who is sick with RSV, either by direct contact with their respiratory secretions or indirect contact with contaminated toys and other objects.
My daughter had RSV at 8 weeks it was scarey her being so young. The doctor explained it to me it's like an adult have a severe cold but in infants it's multiplied by 10. Thankfully my daughter is a healthy 12 year old now,but I did have plenty of sleepless nights when she had it.
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what is RSV?
