This post was sponsored by AstraZeneca as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Being a parent is never easy, throw in your infant being sick and things become even more complicated. There are so many different illness your child can contract. We get them vaccinated, wash their hands a thousand times a day, keep them away from other sick children and do whatever else possible to make sure they stay healthy. When I had my most recent and 3rd baby in 2014, I had never heard of RSV. I was already a mother of 2 so I figured I had pretty much seen and been through a LOT of sick days with my kids and knew what to expect. I was wrong.
Respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, is a common yet highly contagious virus that infects the respiratory tract of most children before their second birthday. There is a difference between contracting RSV and becoming seriously ill with the disease. Most of the time it causes nothing more than a cold, but in some cases it can cause severe symptoms that can lead to hospitalization and the development of life-threatening illness such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
My daughter was 4 months old when she contracted RSV. It started out with a little cough and a cold, nothing that seemed concerning. We didn’t worry about it for a few days since my husband and I both figured it would go away. It didn’t. Over the course of about a week her cough got progressively worse and wheezing started. It got so bad that she couldn’t sleep at night because she was coughing so violently. She would then cry because of the cough which only made her other symptoms worse.
Her coughing was so bad it was like she would be gasping for air and I could do nothing to help her. It was a horrible feeling. We took her to the doctor as soon as we could and they diagnosed her with RSV. The doctor prescribed her and inhaler to help open up her lungs so she could breath easier. After hearing more about RSV, I felt extremely lucky that my daughter wasn’t being admitted to the hospital. We would need to make sure we administered her inhaler and stayed indoors, away from any other possible infection factors.
Thankfully, after about 2 months of using the inhaler, cold medicine and not taking her outdoors, our baby girl got better. Since her RSV episode, we’ve become much more aware of how to prevent it and the resources available. I can safely report I now have a happy and healthy 2 year old girl who breathes easy and loves being outdoors!
October is National RSV Awareness Month and is meant to help educate parents on RSV, it’s effects and how to prevent it. Take a look at the infographic below for more information on RSV and visit RSVProtection.com to learn more about RSV disease and how to help keep your child stay healthy this RSV season! Because our babies #littlelungs are so important.
Leave a Reply