Experiences with RSV?

J., my son, now 2 yrs old, had pnemonia and RSV at the age of 3 mths that had him hospitalized for 8 days. Since, aside from the the everyday , normal colds and such, he is fine. As you probably read, almost every child has RSV at some point since at most times isn't anything more than cold symptoms. We have not experienced any other problems yet it has only been a little over a year that he had it. Occasionally when he does have a cold a nebulizer treatment or two might have to be done to relieve some wheezing. I know what you mean about wanting to know everything about everything. I learned due to a heart condtion of my other son that you cannot control or know everything. Just be informed and live your life. If something comes up stemming from the situation, deal with it ath that time. Life is too short to worry TOO much about things you can't control. God bless and happy holidays.

When my son was about 5 months (he is now going to be 5 in Jan) he ended up in the hospital with rsv. He was there for 5 days with oxygen and stuff. He has not had any other illness after that. He is a healty boy. So considering that your child is older and it is only a mild cause she should be fine in the long run.

My son had RSV at 3 months - he is now 26 months old and he is fine! We didn't hospitalize my son and treated him with streroids thru a machine at home - he is fine - no long term effects.

my son had this recently.
It started with a cold and a lingering cough then later a fever and the cough turned into a wheeze.
I took him to ER when fever got too high.
Doc gave him breathing treatment and antibiotics for slight fluid in one ear.
The combo worked because he is much better now and only slight runny nose is left (he had tons of mucus he could not expel on his own).
I would give him mucinex and he would vomit up shocking amounts of phlem.
No problems since though.
I had not heard of life long probs.
Good luck
K.

Hi J.,

My son had RSV/Bronchiolitis last winter at 8 months. He Seemed to have a reactive airway the rest of the winter, treated with a nebulizer. So far this fall/winter he has been sick twice and didn't wheeze at all.. we havent had to break out the neb. since last March. When my son was sick, my pedi mentioned it could trigger a reactive airway, which would cause asthmatic symptoms when he got sick with anything, even a cold. So far this year, he hasnt shown any evidence of a reactive airway or asthma.
My cousin, who is now 14, was hospitalized with RSV/Bronchiolitis at 4 months. She WAS diagnosed with reactive airway disease and had a very bad case. She was pretty sick until she was 3 or 4, when, it just went away. She hasnt had any evidence of RAD or asthma for 10 years.

Hope that helps! Hope your little one feels better soon! We just had our first ear infection at 21 months... tis the season for sick little ones! Hope she feels better!

I don't know too much of the long lasting effects but I can share my story. My daughter was 4 months when she got her first case of rsv. I know exactaly how she got it, she was staying with my mom while I was at work, and another girl my mom watches was sick and didn't go to school. This girls mom said the dr told her she had a cold, however she was getting neb treatments. 2 days later my daughter had her first runny nose and cough, mothers intuition told me to take her to the dr and the tests showed rsv. We didn't have to go to the hospital. They just gave me Albuterol for a nebulizer. After about 2 weeks we were compleatly over it, but the dr told me to watch when she gets a cold because she will probably wheeze. We went 10 months with no sickness (other than an occational runny nose when she was teething)and bam my now 14 month old has her 2nd case of rsv (this time she's been prescribed xopenex) and we have no idea where she picked it up this time. So I would say other than being wheezy when they have future colds, they are more apt to pick the virus up again. It wasn't as bad this time, but that might have to do with her age. Noone has said anything about her being labeled for having rsv though.

Hi J.,

My daughter had RSV also when she was 13 months old, she was hospitalized for 4 days due to the extreme inability to breathe, it was horrifying and as a new Mom I had never even heard of RSV. We left the hospital with steroids and a nebulizer to take home with us. After the initital treatments when we got home, we phased both of those things out...then about a year later we started her in soccer....the breathing troubles started again...we went to the Dr. who did not say it was RSV again and did not diagnose it as asthma....but now she is 5 and I would say twice a year she gets the same RSV symptoms, but at least now we cna treat it at home....when she was 4 she was put on Singulair which helps a bit....but we have found than any activity that entails running affects her breathing.....

Basically, I do not think Dr.'s really know what they are dealing with with RSV or other breathing issues...each child is VERY different, so your daughter may not ever have any issue again related to what you went through...or she could be like my duaghter and develop symptoms a coupel times of year...
I would not stress too much, just learn to listen to her breathing so that you can determine an impending problem...I can usually tell 3 or 4 days before my duaghter gets really sick by the gurgle that she gets in her chest...it really helps alleviate the symptoms!

Next year my goal is to find a more natural rememdy to help her...I do not want her on singulair forever...or the nebulizer!

Good luck....

hi J.. my daughter had rsv at 4 mos. she was barking, i brought her to the er that night, they tested her (i dont know why you wouldnt), put her on albuterol, which she used for the week or however long it was, at home. it went away and she has had no problems since...:::knock on wood:::.... i dont know a ton about it, but i always thought that the really bad lasting effects of rsv applied more to preemies. maybe im wrong, but maybe check your info. take care, D.

Your story sounded like our son's story, starting at about 8 months old. We made so many night time trips to the emergancy room for the first 2 years of his life, all of the emergancy staff knew him by his first name. He never had RSV. (By the way, if your doctor suspects it, why not test for it and rule it out?) He was developing asthma, however, and when we took him to the allergist to have him evaluated, she put him on singular. She said that some children can develop asthma as before two, and if untreated can cause scarring in their lungs, and the likelihood that they will have asthma their entire lives. Controlling it reduces that chance. I can tell you for us, it significantly reduced the number of trips to the emergancy room. He's five now, and his asthma symtoms really appear only the winter months now, especially after a severe cold. Croup is also a common virus this time of year, it starts out with a fever, and is often mistaken as a cold, and there is a rise in the number of croup cases. My son has that several times. The doctor said that the gene mutates.