Preventing RSV from infecting your family is challenging, but it can be done.
|
Although the research is not conclusive, there is considerable evidence that
early and difficult bouts with RSV can lead to the development of asthma and
allergies. In 2000, a study reported in the American Journal of Respiratory
Critical Care Medicine found a strong link between early hospitalization for RSV
and the incidence of asthma and allergies at age 7. In Jagg Nuñez's case,
he has been fortunate enough not to develop full-blown asthma, but now at 6, he
does still need to have occasional breathing treatments.
As with an ordinary head cold, RSV tends to occur in seasons. "It's not a
summertime infection," says McMillan. "The season is broadly defined as October
through April, which is a lot of months." But that season can vary
geographically; Sears says that Florida, for instance, has had some year-round
outbreaks. If you have an at-risk baby, your best bet is to call your local
public health office to learn if your area has a typical RSV season and if an
outbreak is underway.
Knowing if RSV is out there is the easy part. A little more challenging is
preventing it from infecting your family, especially if you have a
low-birth-weight or otherwise at-risk baby. But it can be done. The six essential
guidelines for protecting your child from RSV are the following:
- Wash hands carefully and frequently. Make sure everyone in
your family, and everyone who handles your child, washes his or her hands
regularly.
- Avoid crowded places, such as shopping malls and
daycare centers. "Ideally, premature infants wouldn't be in daycare centers
during the RSV season," says McMillan. If daycare is a necessity, insist that
strict hand-washing rules be enforced, and ask the center to keep your baby as
isolated as possible.
- Do not let sick adults or children come near
your baby. Because RSV in adults and healthy children is indistinguishable from a
regular head cold, Aunt Martha's sniffles could be life threatening for your
preemie.
- Keep smokers far, far away, especially if your child is
already sick. "Cigarette smoke exacerbates the RSV infection," says McMillan. "It
can make it much, much worse in children, especially babies."
- If a
cold (which might be RSV) strikes your at-risk baby, says Sears, "give the baby
lots of fluids, to keep his secretions liquid. And put him near a mister for the
same reason."
- If your baby is born premature, or with a congenital
lung or heart problem, he should probably receive monthly injections of
palivizumab, more commonly known by the easier-to-pronounce trade name of
Synagis. It is not a vaccine - it is the actual antibody to the virus. Therefore,
says McMillan, it doesn't actually prevent RSV from occurring. "All it has been
proven to do is prevent hospitalizations, by lessening the severity of the
illness," she says. "But that is significant enough for the American Academy of
Pediatrics to advise monthly treatments for at-risk infants." Although Synagis
has been available since 1998, it is little known among the general public,
because its market is limited to at-risk babies. "Most doctors know about it and
will recommend it," says Sears. "But it's always good to ask."
1|2|3
|
 |
Tips for Treating Colic