“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for MedImmune. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating. This is a cause very close to my heart that I fully support raising awareness of”
As a pediatric nurse working in a "physicians prescribed extended care center" 95% of the babies that come to us were premature at birth. Basically PPEC is a daycare for medically fragile kids whose ages range from birth-21 years, and we provide child care as well as medical care throughout the day. Most of the children that come for our care are discharged after a year, because they have caught up to the term child as far as health and development. However, that first year of life is critical for a premie baby and they are at risk for many illnesses. The children that come to use are especially prone to respiratory infections and the virus, RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus can be especially deadly for them. Even though my oldest was a term baby, this hits close to home for me. He was born with pneumonia and spent 8 days in the NICU. He continued to have respiratory infections for the first two years of his life, and we spent more time and money than I care to talk about on specialists and respiratory treatments and tests.Thankfully he eventually outgrew this and is a perfectly healthy 6 year old boy now!
If you have ever donated blood, you may have noticed that you might be listed as RSV(neg) and told you have "babies blood." You see, RSV is quite common and in a healthy adult, you probably never even knew you were exposed to it. In fact, most full term children have contracted this by the age of two and had very mild cold-like symptoms.
You may or may not know this, but world prematurity day is November 17th. Did you know in the United States, 12.2 percent of ALL babies born are premature. In most cases, premature babies are born with underdeveloped lungs and because of this RSV can be fatal for them. Unfortunately, RSV is the leading cause of hospitalizations for children under one year old and even account for over 400 deaths a year for infants. It is even responsible for one in every 13 pediatrician visits. I am going to be honest, even as a pediatric nurse, I was not aware that RSV was this common until I researched for this campaign!
Symptoms of RSV:
- persistent cough or wheezing (or both)
- Blue tint around the mouth
- Rapid or gasping breaths
- Fever (esp over 100.4 in infants under 3 months)
How to protect your child from RSV:
- WASH YOUR HANDS AND ASK OTHERS TO DO THIS AS WELL- use wipes for babies hands.
- Wash the toys and blankets that come in contact with your baby frequently.
- Avoid crowds for young children, or children who are more susceptible (premie babies) during RSV season (flu season is a common time for RSV).
- Do not let anyone smoke around your child, and remember third hand smoke (smoke on peoples clothing and hair) can be dangerous to babies too.
- Do not go around anyone who has had a respiratory infection recently.
The information presented above is NOT to replace the advice of your medical professionals and is for informational purposes only. Please speak with your physician or other medical providers prior to taking any supplements. If you have any questions or would like your product, service or company featured on The Nurse Mommy, please contact Paige from The Nurse Mommy at nursemommypaige at yahoo dot com
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