We have been notified our dtr has been exposed to RSV and she has been exhibiting symptoms for a few days (thought it was a common cold/cough until notified about RSV). I will call in the morning but curious about others experiences.....should she see the doctor or ride it out like other viruses? She's 4 if it makes a difference but we do have a younger child who has not yet had symptoms.
Have her seen and swabbed -- better safe than sorry. If it is not treated early, it can cause permanent lung damage and asthma. Especially since you have a younger child too.
Yes. Call your doctor and set up an appt.
While many cases of RSV can be treated at home, it's also *quite* lethal. The entire medical ward and most of the NICU and PICU at Children's hospital up here (except for us... we had "mystery" near respiratory failure, they at least knew the cause). HUNDREDS of children up here have been hospitalized for respiratory distress with RSV as the cause over the past month. No bad outcomes I know of, however, with IV fluids and oxygen masks and nebulizers most kids in our ward were cycled back home after just a day or two, only a few were there longer, and a smaller number to the nicu/picu. It's just uber important that medical care is sought.
DON'T QUIT READING...
There's no need to freakout JUST yet, however. (promise) MOST children by the age of 2 have already had RSV, they've just had a mild case of it. It's just important to know that this is very very serious and possibly deadly if she doesn't have a mild case, so ABSOLUTELY seek medical care first thing tomorrow... and continue to monitor. Your doctor will be able to give you a list of things to be on the lookout for, for taking your daughter to the ER.
I am a nurse at a childrens hospital and we see a lot of children being hospitalized for RSV. I would call your doctor to make sure but unless your child is having trouble breathing RSV is similar to a cold. In younger children and infants it can really cause breathing issues. Make sure she isnt using her ribs when she breaths, having nasal flaring, or breathing rapidly (>40-60/min). Unfortunately there is no medication to cure RSV but if the child is having trouble breathing there are medications for that. Going to get tested for RSV will not do anything more than give a diagnosis its just like going to the doctor to get tested for influenza. Just watch her breathing and encourage rest and fluids.
Call the doc first thing in the am. She will most likely be fine but younger children can really suffer with it. My little one was 2 months when she had it, very scary. Had to use a breathing treatment. Good luck! Hope everything turns out good!
She needs to see a doctor. RSV takes their ability to breathe away, it is in adult form Bronchitis, and nothing to play with. My twins had it every year until they were 2 then this year with the new flu virus my daughter got the flu and RSV. We had to do around the clock breathing treatments with around the clock medicine to keep her out of the hospital. If your child is having a hard time breathing (shallow breathes) and their chest is caving in when they take their breathes you need to get them in right away.
My daughter is 5.5 and had it at Christmas. From what I have read it's worse for younger children and infants, however both my daughters had it and it hit my oldest the worst. She stopped eating, drinking, talking and wanted to sleep constantly within a half hour after waking in the morning after sleeping all night. She had pneumonia before and never was as sick as she was with rsv. She was in the ER twice for fluids, breathing treatments and nausea medicine. We were also sent home with inhalers and a nebulizer. Rsv is viral so antibiotics will not help unless it causes a secondary bacterial infection. Supportive therapy is the best treatment which is what my daughter had. It took her weeks to bounce back from it. She is not in school or daycare since I homeschool and actually had caught it from her cousin who was visiting at Christmas who happened to be 9mths old but wasn't that sick with it. His symptoms were similar to the common cold. We also didn't find out what she actually had until several days after her first ER visit, no one thought either time when we were in the ER to swab her for flu. It wasn't until a follow up appointment with her pediatrician who then suggested she be tested for flu. The only test that was positive was RSV. Hope this helps.
Go to the doctor....My son was just diagnosed yesterday...We thought he'd get better over the weekend and didn't...Glad we took him to the pediatrician...He is on Nebulizer treatments now...That is nothing to mess around with.
My 2 and 4 year old just got over RSV. It is nasty and seems to be spreading like a wildfire. It mimics cold symptoms and then takes a turn for the worst, at least in our case. They both had really high fevers 103 and above for about 5 days. It was worse in my 2 year old. The cough was the worst. They would just cough and cough for what seemed like hours. Its a super mucusy cough that is really hard to get up. Its easier for older kids. They both ended up needing breathing treatments to open up their lungs. My daughter needed one and my boy (has asthma) needed 3 or 4. It lasted a good week for both of them and the cough lingered a little while longer. Prop up their mattress, use a humidifier and if the coughing gets really bad take them in so you can get them a breathing treatment to break up that nasty stuff. I feel for you and hope, in your instance that its just a cold! Good luck!
RSV isn't something you need to worry about unless you have a child who is prone to breathing troubles. It mostly affects premies. Our son who has breathing problems was hospitalized for 3 days with it at 18 months, but mostly for observation. Neither of our other kids have ever had issue with it, and that was by far not the first time our son had had issues. By that time he had quit breathing on us twice for other things, so it really was just his issue, not a typical kid issue. I'd just ride it out. The test to see if you have it isn't very pleasant, and then they just tell you it will pass. If you see symptoms of breathing distress, that's when you need to call you doctor and ask what they suggest. For our son it was hyperventilating type breathing. Other times we watch for being able to see the ribs while he breathes. Those are the kinds of things most kids don't get from it that you have to worry about. Pretty serious, but pretty rare, also. Your 4 yo should be fine. It's mostly a baby and newborn issue. I can't remember how long it lasted. No more than a normal cold -- which is what it is unless it gets into the lungs.
I'm not sure what it does at that age but when my 2yr old was 3 mths she was hospitalized for it. It was pretty serious! I would take her to the Dr right away!
We took my not quite 2yo in for a cough/fever/tugging on his ears. Turned out to be a double ear infection and likely RSV - three kids in his child care setting had it confirmed that same week. Doc said "Unless they are having issues breathing, what is the point in running a $100 test to confirm its a virus that we would treat like any other virus?" I thought that was a good point. Its a virus, and older kids and adults tend not to have much of an issue with it (just looks like a common cold).
Ask the doc for things to look for and keep an eye on her... no reason to run for the hills just yet.
