It’s not always H1N1

My son was diagnosed with RSV at 4 months. I had to be persistent with the doctors because I knew it wasn't just a cold. When they finally checked his oxygen level in his blood it was at 82% (not good).Make sure to know the signs of labored breathing in an infant and please listen to your mothers intuition. My son ended up being hospitalized for 8 days and was given oxygen for 7 days. As a refult, he now has hyper reactive airway disease, so he is very sensitive to colds. We are manging the symptoms with breathing treatments via a nebulizer. Please take all the necessary precautions during this season to protect your families from these nasty viruses.

Thank you, Dr. Gupta, for injecting some sanity into this situation. I see people literally panicking about H1N1. My son ate too quickly at a restaurant the other day. That, combined with his ever-present allergies, made him start coughing hard. Two people at two separate tables openly questioned whether or not my son had "Swine Flu". One couple actually got up and went to a different table! I laughed it off, which is about all you can do. Bottom line is, not everyone has H1N1, nor will everyone get it. I do appreciate you setting the record straight.

Omg, yes my son got RSV at 11 months and the ER doc told me that from now on he will catch most virus's and have terrible cough. He is 5 1/2 has been hospitalized more than 10 times for pnuemonia. Its been a rough ride. Now we have all things to treat him at home under the care of a pulmonologist. I believe the RSV damaged his lungs and caused the viral related asthma. At the first sign of a sneeze we have to immedately start treatments. Get to a pulmonolgist sooner than later to intervene early!!!

Truth be told, the vomiting and diarrhea my 3 year old had last winter for five miserable days makes the flu that is closing schools around here seem like the sniffles. I am sure folks are miserable; being sick is being sick, no matter what it is. And as Dr. Gupta pointed out in a piece that he wrote a while back, the "ordinary" flu that people experience each year can be serious as well. But I am concerned that with all of the attention being given to H1N1, that folks are over-reacting.

Here's a good article from Newsweek that dispels a lot of those ridiculous, vicious myths taking place in Cyberspace regarding
the safety of Swine Flu Vaccine:
CLAIMS THAT SWINE FLU VACCINE IS DANGEROUS . . . RANGE FROM OVERBLOWN TO FALSE
http://www.newsweek.com/id/218513

Obviously, most if not all of the bizarre lies and myths about the new vaccine are coming from the same people who want the Obama administration to fail in all kinds of other endeavors. To encourage the public to NOT get a vaccine that could save their lives . . . is just plain immoral . . . The CDC just has to call them out one by one and somehow get the people responsible for these disturbing lies to stop this insanity once and for all.

Look, I grew up in the 1970's when parents participated in 'chicken pox parties'. Yes, parents wanted their children exposed to the disease! I have had a confirmed case of H1N1 in my household. The day before my stepdaughter became ill, both my wife and I felt somewhat ill with muscle and joint discomfort - but; no time at work lost. My stepdaughter was ordered to stay home for 24 hours by a doctor. I think the taxpayers could have saved over $2 billion by reverting to the methods my parents used! History will show that the media and government blew this bug out of proportion. The former to boost ratings and the latter to lure constituents into feeling good about their government (aka taxpayer) sponsored vaccination.

Thanks for drawing attention to RSV, the most dangerous pediatric serial killer. I am a scientist who works on RSV, and my own children had RSV. There is currently no vaccine or cure for RSV. It is amazing how the average American is easily hyped to hypothetical fears than the clear and present dangers. President Obama declared emergency for H1N1 Flu? Well, he could declare RSV emergency 10 times a year if he cared for children. Here is a quote from the following link:
http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Physicians-To-Discuss-Ways-To-Save-Premature-Babies-From-RSV-4937-1/
"Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (is) a disease that may be up to 10 times more deadly than influenza in children under 1 year of age. (It) is the MOST common cause of ....viral death in children under 5 years of age (and) a leading cause of hospitalization of children under age 1 year. Each year approximately 400 children under the age of 1 die from RSV; in 2003-2004, 32 children under age 2 died from the flu." Go figure!
It is ironic that we hear about AIDS quilt, AIDS concerts, Cancer and Heart walk-a-thons and Bake-sales, but nothing for RSV babies. Our ignorance of RSV and neglect of RSV research funding is literally killing our babies.

My 3 youngest boys have had RSV in years past. Each before they were 2. We were incredibly fortunate that it only required 2 or 3 days hositalization then weeks of breathing treatments at home. This year, all but my youngest had a persistent fever over 102 with nausea and chills. Was it H1N1? Maybe. The test is $400 and isn't covered by insurance so I can't justify $2000 to help the CDC track an illness. It definitely WAS NOT RSV. No respiratory issues at all. Today they go for their H1N1 vaccine and the seasonal flu vaccine. The youngest is almost out of the "danger zone" for RSV (he'll be 2 in Feb.) so I think we may be out of hte woods for major illness. I worry that people over react to H1N1 but there are also way too many who are over reacting to unsubstantiated claims about vaccine safety. I believe in the individual's rights until they allow that individual to spread disease. We KNOW that H1N1 causes illness that has killed children and otherwise healthy adults. That is enough to convince me to get the shot.

Thanks for letting people know that's it's not always H1N1. I was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia last week. After a few days I wasn't better and couldn't breathe, so I went to the ER hoping for a breathing treatment. The doctor there dismissed my pneumonia diagnosis (which had been confirmded with an x ray and blood test) and said I had the flu and should go back to work because I didn't have a fever anymore. I was skeptical, but went back to work. I went to my normal doctor at lunch, who said I was still wheezing, prescribed an inhaler, and sent me back home to bed for another few days. How many people are ER doctors misdiagnosing with the flu just to clear out their ERs?

Nannies,
you are so on the money. We had to almost yell at the Doctor, because he keep saying it was nothing to be done. When I said I was going to the hospital and very loudly in the waiting room because I could hear my Godbaby's breathing raspy, he then took another look at her and said oh she can't seem to get enough air. Hello was he not listening before. She went to the hospital and stayed for 4 days. Know she needs breathing treatments. It was RSV. But the gall of it was he blamed me for not knowing sooner even though I took her to hime 3x's with in 7 days. Mothers know your baby's and do what your gut feeling is.

Thank you Dr. Sanjay for "staying with this" and keeping us all up to date. I work in a Walk In Clinic that is seeing many many cases now of H1N1. I am always very grateful when parents bring their children, and people come in early for treatment, because it makes all the difference. It seems that Urgent Care clinics should be encouraged to open earlier in the day to take the load off of the ERs-many are only open after regular clinic hours. And should they not be stocked with at least the first few doses of Tamiflu so that pharmacies are not running out of this medication???? When my asthmatic daughter had H1N1, getting in early and receiving Tamiflu and an antibiotic to ward off the secondary pneumonia cut the illness down to two sick days.

Our only child caught RSV in a daycare at 8 weeks old during the first week he was there. He was burning up with a 105 fever and O2 saturation in the 80s. He tested positive for Respiratory Synticial Virus (RSV). He spent a week in the hospital lying in an infant car seat on a hospital bed under an oxygent tent. He had double pneumonia. His little veins were so small that even the neonatal nurses could barely find a vein for the IV. A tough time for us. After his release, we had to treat him with Albuterol fron a nebulizer four times a day for weeks after that since the RSV gave him Reactive Airway Disease(asthma). I sometimes worry that the drug caused him to have speech problems that lead to speech therapy for years after that. Now at 11, he doesn't have obvious asthma, and the excellent speech therapists were successful. A month ago he survived H1N1 novel (Swine Flu) after over a week with it. Narrowly avoided pneumonia. I think maybe the Tamiflu helped prevent it from getting worse. He has made nothing but straight A's since kindergarten, plays baseball, and is the light of our life!

Wow this is very interesting. My son is a little over 8 months old and he's had congestion and ran a 102 fever for a few days until he got an antibiotic. He still has congestion in his chest and head but he's acting normal again. I am willing to bet this was probably caused by the aforementioned virus or maybe just a cold. Definitely didn't worry about the Swine Flu though. @Ernie – are you serious? People watch too much news and get paranoid! We need education in this country. Education on eating, exercise, common cold, etc. And we wonder why our health care system is in shambles. Too many people rush to the emergency room for a little cough! People PLEASE start reading from trusted sources and educate yourself. Your life will be a lot happier and less stressful!

Omigod, my son–now fifteen–had a horrible case of RSV when he was three months old. My doctor pooh pooh'd my concerns, and then she went off on a trip overseas and left in her wake a doctor so nasty and useless that all she would ask me to do, after repeated calls, was to "count his coughs"–and then she said it didn't sound like he was sick enough to be so concerned. When I finally insisted to my husband that he needed the emergency room, he tested positive for RSV as well as bronchiolitis and pneumonia and eventually developed reactive airways disease, which he has fortunately since outgrown. People, please trust your instincts. You know when your child is sick, no matter what the so-called experts say.

My 16 month old was diagnosed with H1N1, and when the 36-hour test came back negative, they did a spinal tap and he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. We are finishing up two weeks in the hospital and thankfully we still have our son with us, although he's suffered total hearing loss.

My first daughter got RSV at 6 months, and my second daughter contracted it at 12 months, resulting in pneumonia. Luckily we have the best doctor in the world who watched them like a hawk, helping us avoid hospitalization. However, both of them were plagued with frequent respiratory illnesses throughout their preschool years. RSV, I've been told, makes a child more susceptible to future respiratory problems. My third daughter, who did not contract RSV, was rarely ill. Throughout elementary school, the girls who had had RSV often had their simple colds turn into more, bronchiolitis and pneumonia, while their younger sister recovered much more easily. There are many variables that affect how each individual reacts to illnesses, but if I had it to do all over again I'd be more vigilant about protecting my infants from RSV. I agree that the "new" illnesses splashed all over the news are not the biggest danger to our children. Educate yourself, avoid unnecessary antibiotics, and have anything that seems out of the ordinary checked by a doctor.

For all of you people saying its no big deal to get the flu this year, one thing you need to consider is if you have the ability to take time off of work! In this recession everyone is scared to take time off work or get fired. As a college student, if I missed more than a week of classes, I would get so behind I would pretty much have to make up the entire semester! Before forcing your high school or middle school student to get the flu, consider how hard it will be for them to miss their schooling, and get them vaccinated!

There are other virus based illnesses which may mask as flu. I am recovering from a pseudo flu which hit suddenly with no respiratory involvement, but chills and fever (up to 102.7), general aches, and head pain. These head pains, were not aches. They were short bursts of pain. I immediately went to a walk-in clinic. After an exam including a swab, they said I did not have the flu and to take it easy and drink lots of water. Four days later, my temp was staying between 101 and 102.7. I was taking 2 Advil every 4 hours but the head pain was beyond my tolerance. I called the clinic and the physician sent me to the emergency room. I was treated with 800 mg of Motrin, an I.V. of electrolytes, and oxycodon. A day later, my fever is normal and the head pains are a bearable headache. All my tests came out fine except my WBC and platelets are half the lowest acceptable level. This is apparently due the the battle my body is fighting. The staff was of the opinion that if I'd waited any longer, it might not have turned around so quickly and may have spread to the respiratory system. I also found out that a 102 degree temperature at my age, 66, is much more serious than if I were 36.

When my daughter was 5 weeks of age, we had to call 911 because she kept choking on mucous in her throat. After sitting in the ER with a newborn for a few hours, we were finally able to get help when she started turning blue in the ER. She was subsequently diagnosed with RSV and admitted to the hospital for a week. She spent some time under an oxygen tent and required frequent suctioning of her throat. It was a long week. She now suffers from asthma. And last week she had H1N1. Good times!

To respond to Ron. When there were no vaccines for chickenpox or rubella, it made some sense for parents to expose their children to these diseases. Adult chickenpox can be a very serious illness and rubella in pregnant women can cause severe mental retardation . However, every once in a while a child who contracted these diseases at a party developed complications and died. I cannot imagine how devastated the parents must have been. By the way, no one took their children to measles, mumps, or whooping cough parties. Parents knew that these diseases could be deadly. Before vaccines, it was common for families to lose a child to illness. By the way, over 100 US children have died of the flu so far. Vaccination would appear to be the better course.

My son had RSV at six weeks. The doctors kept dismissing it as nothing, but he ended up being hospitalized for ten days. He was born with a heart murmer, and he nearly died on Christmas Day because of RSV. Our hospital had to call in extra staff to meet his needs. Eventually, he was transferred to a children's hospital in the city.

Moms: be persistant! Ironically, my son, now 18, has all of these symptoms tonight.

I just survived the scariest 24 hours of H1N1 hell with my 12-year old son. It was the sickest I have ever seen a child. He was crying saying he didn't want to die, only to get better. He thought his head would explode. His fever wasn't ever too high–102 tops, but the pain he was in and complete fatique and amount of mucuos was more than alarming. Add 4 1/2 hours of vomiting even water from a sucked icecube–I was thinking we were headed to the ER. Thankfully he finally was able to sleep, and the cough is a little better with Ventolin every 4 hours (he is asthmatic) and Tamiflu. Today is better, but just waiting for my 6-year old to start.
Don't scoff at this virus. It is very scary.
Don't go to the ER for nothing either. If they can't breathe go immediately, if they are still vomiting a day later, go so they don't get dehydrated. Other than that there isn't much they can do that you can't and you take up time and space from someone who might really need it.

While it is true that RSV affects mostly infants, my son was almost 3 years old when he was diagnosed w/ RSV. He was the only child who was not in a crib in the RSV unit of the hospital where he stayed under an oxygen tent for 5 days. He suffered from severe asthma for years after this. Fortunately, he is now a healthy teenager and in remission from asthma. Please be aware that RSV can affect toddlers and older children...not just infants. I knew nothing about this disease, much less how dangerous it could be, until my child had it.

There is a shot for RSV, called Synagis. It is very expensive, and is given to preemies, and other infants who have medical problems, such as heart defects, lung problems, prematurity, mulitiple births with early gestational ages. It is given every month from November through April. It is given in Infusion clinics, and Synagis clinics. It is given during that period of time, until the child is 2 years of age. Because of the expense, it must be approved by your MD/Insurance company.

My daughter, who is now 15 years old, had RSV when she was 9 months old. Fortunately, her Pediatrician recognized it and she was sent directly to the hospital. She was in an oxygen tent for several days and sent home in about a week. The after effects however, were much worse than the illness. Every Winter, she developed terrible Bronchitis, with a cough that lasted about 3 months. She also developed Croup every year, sometimes 2 times a year until she was 8 which required trips the the Emergency Room for steroids with each episode. The doctors tell you that there are no "bad effects" from RSV and usually brush you off as a paranoid parent. But as a mother of an affected infant (now a young woman) and a Pediatric Registered Nurse for 25 years, I can tell you that the lungs of the infants and children are adversely affected with the RSV virus and they are more suseptible in the years to come with each virus that comes their way. Keep up the handwashing and keep the little ones out of the big "play places" from November to March.

It all boils down to taking personal responsibility for yourself and others when you are sick. If your sick stay away from people, doesn't matter if its H1N1, sensonal flu, RSV ,a common cold. Use some friggin common sense and don't exspose other people to your sickness. If you don't care that your sick and go to work and infect other people regardless of what you have think about what kind of risks you are putting other people in. You don't know what medical conditions people have, you could send something home with a parent that passes it on to a child that could become a fatality if he/she has any underlying condition. You just don't know... It's not about paranoia its about common sense.

Matt, you should do a little reading yourself.

Antibiotics are purely for bacterial infections. Not viruses. If your child got better due to the antibiotic, it was most likely a bacterial infection he had.

Erie and Matt, there's nothing wrong with being cautious in this day and age. I agree you should educate yourself, but if I was at a restaurant and someone at the table next to me was coughing alot, I might move.

Specially when we know children are not always the best at covering up when coughing.

I agree it was strange that they actually asked you if your child had H1N1.

The guy who sits next to my husband at work got documented swine flu and died later in the week from secondary bacterial complications. One of my employees had what appeared to be swine flu (early September, we had what he had too, it was flu, and there was no seasonal flu around at that point according to the CDC), my employee's wife also had it with him, and she miscarried the following week at 3 months. So informally, I personally know two people who died from swine flu which seems statistically unlikely for a "pandemic of hype". Conversely, I've never personally known anyone who has died of regular, seasonal flu.

My youngest had fairly bad RSV many years ago. RSV looks quite a bit different than any flu. My son's RSV came on more slowly, lower fevers, no crackly lung noises like pneumonia, but difficulty breathing and feeding. Their diaphragm makes this 'sucked' in look with every breath they struggle for, in our case we managed to make it through without hospitalization and no subsequent problems.

Thank you. I stumbled across this when I googled H1N1 vs RSV.
My daughter had severe RSV, likely contracted while we were in hospital after c-section. She was 9 days old, everything went downhill very fast--I wish there was much better education of the general public concerning RSV. She is almost 8 yrs old now, healthy but asthmatic and therefore in a higher risk group for complications if she contracts H1N1. We lived at the SARS epicentre and got used to seeing people wearing masks even in grocery stores. I am glad that everyone is paying attention to H1N1, and minding their germ etiquette. I recall the figure that 1 in every 50 babies infected with RSV will die. I remember how helpless we felt when the Dr explained that they had no magic cure for 'viruses' and that basically you cross your fingers and treat the symptoms, but time will tell....very scary for a parent. KNOW your children TRUST your gut, and DON"T be embarrassed to go to the Emergency Room. It is better to look like an overreacting parent, feel like people might judge you as paranoid, than to be sorry...We learned not to mess around. We brought her in asap even though I was afraid they would think I was being silly/wasting their time. As it turned out, her oxygen levels were plummeting and she was in trouble. To new moms: don't pass your baby around! Make EVERYONE wash their hands before coming in, and don't be afraid to SCREEN family and friends over the phone (ie have you had a sore throat or sniffles). RSV is NASTY NASTY NASTY and lives for a long time on hard surfaces and even suspended in the air. Good luck and best wishes to any parents who stumble upon this while researching RSV..

My second child had RSV when she was a mere 12 days old. She was choking on her mucus and stopped breathing for a short period. We called 911, spent 6 hours in the ER and then transferred to the hospital for quite a few days. She was sick for weeks after, coughing, needing breathing treatments. She has reactive airways and never really thought it might be from this until now..but there seems to be a pattern.

My youngest, now 7, had RSV at 3 weeks old. He was coughing so much, vomiting up his mucus, took him in to the pediatrician, they didn't even mention RSV. Dr. merely said to watch him and to bring him in if it got worse. Well, by the next morning, I noticed his coughing had subsided, but he was pale and his fingernails were bluish. We rushed him to the ER and by then he was like a little rag doll; unresponsive . He stayed in the NICU for 4 days. I remember there were so many babies in the NICU with RSV at that time. Some on ventilators. We were lucky. Today, he is very healthy with no respiratory problems. Although he did get the swine flu a couple weeks ago (along w/ my daughter and many children at his school) and has since recovered.

Watch your babies very closely if RSV is going around. And get educated about RSV. This virus is very serious for the wee, little ones.

@ Ernie, I totally agree with you! I was at walmart and my son and I still have a little chest congestion and so he did a little cough, so an older lady turned around @ my 3y/o and said WOW!! Of course as a mother I said "It's just a little cold, not everyone has H1N1 GROW UP"! So yes to all NOT EVERYONE HAS NOR WILL CATCH H1N1!!!!