What you need to know about RSV & Flu season!
What is RSV? Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common, and very contagious, virus that infects the respiratory tract of most children before their second birthday.
For most babies and young children, the infection causes nothing more than a cold. But for a small percentage, infection with RSV can lead to serious problems such as bronchiolitis, which is inflammation of the small airways of the lungs, or pneumonia, which can become life-threatening.
Who is at the GREATEST risk?
🌟Babies born prematurely
🌟Children younger than 2 who were born with heart or lung disease
🌟Infants and young children whose immune systems are weakened due to illness or medical treatment
🌟Children under 8 to 10 weeks old
What can we do to limit the spread of RSV?
🍂HAND WASHING (sanitizer)
🍂No touching a baby’s face or hands
🍂No KISSING
🍂No smoking
🍂Staying home when you are sick!
🍂Keeping your children home when they are sick.
RSV Symptoms
In older children, RSV can cause symptoms similar to that of a cold. But in babies, the virus causes more severe symptoms.
RSV is most commonly transmitted from November to April, when cooler temperatures bring people indoors and when they’re more likely to interact with each other.
RSV tends to follow a timeline of symptoms. Symptoms peak around the 5th dayTrusted Source of the illness, but they may start experiencing symptoms earlier or later.
Initial symptoms may not be all that noticeable, such as decreased appetite or a runny nose. More severe symptoms may appear a few days later.
Symptoms a baby may have with RSV include:
😷breathing that’s faster than normal
difficulty breathing
😨cough
🤒fever
😤irritability
😴lethargy or behaving sluggishly
😪runny nose
🤧sneezing
🥴using their chest muscles to breathe in a way that appears labored
🤕wheezing
Some babies are more vulnerable to the symptoms of RSV. This includes children who were born prematurely, or babies with lung or heart problems.
Synagis Shot (palivizumab)
What is it? SYNAGIS is not a vaccine—it’s an injection given once a month throughout RSV season, which usually starts in the fall and continues into spring. The exact timing of RSV varies by location.
How does SYNAGIS help? Synagis gives babies who are born prematurely (at or before 35 weeks, and who are 6 months of age or less at the beginning of RSV season) the infection-fighting antibodies they lack, helping protect their vulnerable lungs from RSV.
Cost:
Synagis cost $5000-$9000 per season (fall to spring) per baby.
If a baby hits the requirements needed for RSV, the shot could be covered by insurance (or Canada’s “free” healthcare)
Flu:
🤒What is the flu?
Influenza, commonly known as the "flu," is an extremely contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza A or B viruses. Flu appears most frequently in winter and early spring. The flu virus attacks the body by spreading through the upper and/or lower respiratory tract.
🤧What is the difference between the Flu & a cold?
The common cold and flu are both contagious viral infections of the respiratory tract. Although the symptoms can be similar, flu is much worse. A cold may drag you down a bit, but the flu can make you shudder at the very thought of getting out of bed.
🤕Flu symptoms:
Congestion, sore throat, and sneezing are common with colds. Both cold and flu may bring coughing, headache, and chest discomfort. With the flu, though, you are likely to run a high fever for several days and have body aches, fatigue, and weakness. Symptoms of the flu also tend to come on abruptly. Usually, complications from colds are relatively minor, but a case of flu can lead to a life-threatening illness such as pneumonia.
Who is at greatest risk?
While anyone can get flu, premature babies, infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic ailments such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease are at highest risk for flu complications. Despite advances in flu prevention and treatment, the CDC estimates that deaths related to influenza range from 3,000 to 49,000 deaths in the each year.
Flu Shot
Influenza vaccines, also known as flu shots or flu jabs, are vaccines that protect against infection by influenza viruses.
🤧Why should people get vaccinated against the flu?
Influenza is a potentially serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Every flu season is different, and influenza infection can affect people differently, but millions of people get the flu every year, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized and thousands or tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes every year. An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to help protect against flu.
🦠 How do flu vaccines work?
Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are in the vaccine.
💉Who should get vaccinated this season?
Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every season.