McMillan and Sears both stress that parents of full-term, healthy babies should
neither be demanding antibody shots nor denying sniffly Aunt Martha the joy of a
visit. "For one thing, the injections are expensive," says McMillan. For another,
RSV in a robust baby won't be any more serious than a regular cold.
But while healthy, full-term babies are the norm, premature babies are hardly
unusual. In fact, says the March of Dimes, preterm births rose an alarming 10
percent between 1991 and 2001; in that year, nearly 12 percent of American babies
were born early. Furthermore, says McMillan, because of the increasing number of
older mothers and the prevalence of fertility drugs, multiple births are on the
rise, and those babies often have a low birth weight. "Parents should know that
twins and triplets are at increased risk of getting RSV, because they can give it
to each other," she says.
When Jagg Nuñez was born, in 1997, the antibody injection was not yet on
the market. His month in the hospital was grueling for both him and his
family - but the ordeal did not end when he finally went home. "When he was about
1, he got it again," says his mother. "I thought he was too old to get it again
so seriously, but the doctors attributed it to him being a preemie." So it was
back to the hospital again, only this time Jagg was an active 1-year-old, so it
wasn't as easy to keep him under the tent. But that's where he needed to stay.
In 2002, Brandi Nuñez gave birth to a daughter, Bliss. Once again she had
a difficult pregnancy, and she was put on bed rest until the baby was born at 35
weeks. Bliss weighed 5.6 pounds, the same as her brother did, and her lungs
weren't fully developed, so she began the antibody treatment while still in
neonatal care. Before long Bliss was home with her family, and now the toddler
continues receiving the shots in the spring and fall, which are the RSV seasons
in Indiana. The family is also careful to carry out all the other preventive
measures, from hand washing to avoiding people with colds. And Bliss hasn't seen
the inside of a hospital since she was born.
Colleen Dunn Bates is a freelance writer based in Pasadena, California, who
remembers all too well when her daughter, now a healthy teen, had RSV.
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