*This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with MedImmune and Latina Bloggers Connect. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
This past week, both of my boys were sick at the same time. My younger son suffers from asthma and allergies and often gets bronchitis during the winter months. On the other hand, my older son’s asthma is moderate but he managed to pick up a bug at school and got sick with a throat infection. As a mother, it is extremely frustrating to know that my sons are not feeling well and to not be able to make them feel better right away. It was all I could do to stifle tears as the doctor described to me how sick they were.
One of the best ways to protect our children is to educate ourselves on the dangers that exist that could potentially pose a threat to their health. By arming ourselves with knowledge, we can make sure that we take every possible precaution to keep them from getting sick. Unfortunately, Hispanic babies have an increased risk of developing severe seasonal illness. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common, seasonal virus contracted by nearly 100 percent of babies by their second birthday.
This virus affected our own family when my oldest son was 6 months old. He contracted what I thought to just be a cold which eventually progressed into his having difficulty breathing and we had to take him to the emergency room. The diagnosis that we were given was RSV and the doctor explained to us that our son had a respiratory infection. We had no idea how common RSV was and we were certainly unaware of the dangers that it posed to our baby.
It’s important that all parents understand the ABCs of RSV in order to keep their family healthy during RSV season:
A is for AWARENESS-
- RSV occurs typically from November to March.
- It is the leading cause of hospitalization for babies within their first year of life in the United States.
B is for BABIES-
- Premature babies are more at risk of developing severe RSV disease.
- Currently one in eight Hispanic babies is born premature.
C is for Contagious-
- RSV is contagious and can be spread through touching, sneezing and coughing.
- Symptoms of RSV are persistent coughing or wheezing, bluish color around mouth or fingernails, rapid or difficult breathing and high fever.
Prevention is key when it comes to RSV because there is no treatment for it. Make sure you wash your hands frequently around your child and ask others to do so too. Also, make sure that toys, clothes and blankets are kept clean at all times. Do not allow anyone to smoke around your baby and stay away from sick people whenever possible.
For more information about RSV prevention visit https://www.rsvprotection.com. By educating yourself and maintaining an open dialogue with your pediatrician, you will be proactive in keeping your family healthy during RSV season.
Let’s Discuss: How do you educate yourself about ways to protect your family’s health?
Disclosure: I participated in this compensated campaign on behalf of MedImmune and Latina Bloggers Connect. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating and to facilitate this review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
© 2014, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
Good reminders! I can’t wait until winter is over and the RSV risk goes down. You post is also a good reminder to wash hands even more often.
Sorry that everyone has been sick. We wash hands, take vitamins, and use essential oils to boost our immune systems.
I was always very scared that my little ones would get RSV when they were babies. Luckily they never did. My poor little nephew had to be hospitalized when he caught it.
It’s so hard to see kids – especially babies – sick. I was militant about people washing their hands and using hand sanitizer before touching my kids.
This is such an important message. It tough when babies get sick, but spreading awareness like this hopefully helps a little!
This is really Greta information to share! I don’t have babies anymore but two out of the three kids here have had the flu all week. And that is with the flu shot!
This information is so very important for any person to know. I went through RSV with my first born, but lucky for me I was so worried when she coughed that I took her into the dr and caught it at its first stages. We survived and live to tell about it. I can only hope other mothers and fathers can say the same!
Thankfully I no longer need to worry about RSV with my children, but so many new mothers and fathers do need to be educated. This is a great post!
This very helpful information thank you for sharing it. I’m lucky that my son is older so he is able to communicate better when he is sick.
Really great information there! When my son was about 8 months old he got extremely sick (that was around February). It was a viral infection that made him so sick. Poor thing! I still have nightmares about that time. We were in the hospital for 10 days confined to one of those rooms to avoid him giving out the virus and getting worse from others.
This is a valuable post! My kids are not completely free from sickness during the winter months. Arming with knowledge is the right thing to do to fight it off.
This is some really good information! I will share this post with my friends who are new parents.
So important to know these fact and protect our little ones. Spreading the word!
Great tips. My first line of defense against stuff like this: loads of vitamin C – boosts the immune system, antiviral and antioxidant at the same time. And natural too.
Those are great tips! My oldest son now 13 was hospitalized as a baby with RSV. He was less than a week old and I had just left the hospital when he went back in and spent almost a week. He couldn’t be around any other kids and was in a bubble. It was the scariest time of my life. RSV is nothing to joke around with. I’m happy your boys are feeling better.
I am glad to see that this message is getting out alot now. I am unsure why it is something that doctors do not talk to new parents about!
I am glad that your sons are both feeling better. RSV is very scary and getting the info out to other parents and parents to be is so important.
Wow. I never knew about this. I do know that asthma can happen during November, since there are more pollens around. It’s great to know more info about other sicknesses.
Glad your son RSV was treated early and quickly. I hope more new parents and their doctor learn more about this. I try to keep on top of when my son gets sick. Not easy but I know if left unchecked some little illness can turn into something bigger and worse.