GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – As kids go back to school, there’s an increased risk they could bring a dangerous virus back home to their younger siblings. Parents now have a new tool to protect their babies from a common virus that’s the leading cause of hospitalizations among infants in the United States.
We’ talked to a local pediatrician at Aurora BayCare Medical Center about what this means for children and their families.
“RSV is the number one viral cold of childhood and it is a very common one,” said Dr. Donald Beno, a pediatrician with Aurora BayCare Medical Center.
Beno says the FDA’s recent approval of a new RSV drug means parents now have a way to protect children up to 24 months from RSV for an entire season.
That’s even more important now as kids head back into the classroom, increasing the risk they could bring RSV home to their younger siblings.
RSV season usually starts in the fall and peaks in the winter. Last season it started early in the U.S. and a severe surge overwhelmed hospitals.
Beno says at one point every pediatric ICU bed in the entire state of Wisconsin was full.
Children aren’t the only ones vulnerable to RSV either.
“We have adults in our ICU with RSV,” said Beno.
Making it more important than ever to do what we already know how to do to stop the spread of any virus; handwashing, wearing masks, staying home when you’re sick and disinfecting public surfaces our kids touch.
“Children in grocery carts are a very common way of spreading illness,” Beno said. “Please use the little wipes.”
Beno says just because you get infected with RSV, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get terribly ill. Most older children and adults have immune systems strong enough to fight the virus. However, for people with compromised immune systems, like infants, the protection against RSV provided by this new drug is a game changer.
If you’d like to make an appointment for your baby to get the new RSV drug, call: (920) 288-8000 or go to aurorabaycare.com/appointments.
