CLEVELAND — Dr. Amy Edwards, Associate Medical Director at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, said the past two years RSV hasn’t been as bad as previous years. She notes that this year, it seems to have started much earlier than normal.
“We’re just seeing this really rapid RSV peak. At Rainbow last week we had to go on diversion for a couple of days, where basically we were full and we couldn't take emergency admissions from the outside. It's only early October, it shouldn't be happening yet,” said Dr. Edwards.
She said medical professionals are holding their breath waiting to see if it will peak and end early, or if they’re in for a long season.
“We have been seeing some older kids that shouldn't be admitted, admitted and it's not clear if that's because there's less population immunity,” she said.
RSV infects the lungs and affects people of all ages, but it can be life threatening to babies.
Mentor native Taylor Miller knows how dangerous RSV can be all too well, her son Patrick was diagnosed with the virus last September.
Patrick was 5-months old when she noticed he had a cough and was breathing with his stomach.
“Which is a big sign for RSV, so I took him to the doctor and they told me to take him to the ER right away. They did the rapid test and within probably 4 hours they confirmed it was RSV and they wanted to transfer him out because he needed to be on oxygen,” she said.
Patrick was admitted to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital where nurses were monitoring him.
“They were suctioning his nose a lot and trying to get the fluid out to try and get him to breathe,” said Miller.
RSV typically lasts 5 days and peaks on day 4. Patrick was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit when he hit the peak.
“It was 2 in the morning and the nurse woke me up and said, 'He’s really really struggling to breathe right now. We need to have the doctors come in and check him out.’ He was wheezing he was struggling you could see it. It was horrible,” she said.
After 5 days in the hospital, he got better. However, Miller said she is still traumatized by seeing him in that state.
“You feel helpless,” she said.
He’s 18 months old now.
“He runs around he’s totally healthy in every aspect, but even if he gets a little sniffle, I’m constantly checking his breathing, checking his belly, making sure he’s not doing anything abnormal,” said Miller.
Dr. Edwards said in order to stop the spread, people need to be aware of RSV. Adults and older children can have RSV and not even know it.
“You might have a minor cough and a little bit of a sniffle. You might even think it's allergies or your asthma acting up. You, generally, feel very well as an adult when you have RSV and then you kiss that newborn baby because it's so cute and they end up in the hospital with RSV,” she said.
She and Miller are warning others to not kiss or touch babies during RSV season.
“Especially with new babies really be conscious. Even if it’s a little sniffle to you it could be life threatening to them,” said Miller.
