My Brush With RSV

Do you know what RSV is? I didn't either. Not until I took my baby in a few weeks after she was born because she seemed to have some congestion. The frog princess was born during the winter of the swine flu, as I like to call it, so we were being extra cautious since the weather was especially chilly (for Florida). I remember Dr. R telling me that she would be testing for RSV just to be on the safe side. Then she mentioned how this was fairly common and I thought "why hadn't I heard of this?"

First of all, RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus.  It is a common, seasonal virus that affects two-thirds of all infants by age one and almost 100% of babies by age two, because it’s highly contagious. RSV can live on surfaces (doorknobs, countertops, toys, bedding) for several hours and is often spread through touching, hugging and kissing. Daycare increases this risk of RSV spreading as children are constantly sharing toys, tables and high chairs as well as eating and napping in close quarters.

The reason Dr. R was checking to see if the frog princess had it is because RSV typically causes mild to moderate cold-like symptoms which is what she was presenting with. But in some babies it results in a serious respiratory infection and that's what she was trying to avoid.

We were lucky that it wasn't RSV and just some mild congestion but the fact that I didn't know what this was caused me some concern. When I was given the chance to tell you about it, I jumped at it (also: I had completely forgotten about this until I got this chance. I probably should've written about it earlier but, please blame it on the Mami brain).

I remember glancing over some info I found online about the disease but there's so much more to it. Please take a look at the RSV protection page and get the facts. There is no cure for RSV and we need to try our best to keep our kids from getting it and if they do have it, to keep from spreading it.

Here's a handy dandy infographic to give you some additional details.

Had you heard of RSV prior to stopping by?

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post in conjunction with Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions and motherly anxiety and need to share this info in hopes that others learn more about RSV are purely my own.