 — a common but little-known illness that can be fatal. Christine's daughter Aria was 12 days old when she came down with RSVCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Christine, pictured with daughter Aria, wants other parents to be aware of RSVCredit: Chris Balcombe It's a leading cause of infant mortality and is especially dangerous to babies born prematurely. Cases of the bug, which infects the lungs, have surged recently, especially among under-fives. Lorna Smith had never heard of RSV before young son Caolan was struck down with it. 'Seeing your tiny baby connected to loads of machines, struggling to breathe, has to be one of the most traumatic things a mother can experience,' says Lorna, 35, from Southampton. RSV spreads via contaminated droplets when someone coughs or sneezes and virus experts are warning we're headed for a 'lethal triple mix of Covid-19, influenza and RSV' this winter. Yet many parents have no idea their child could be at risk. Lorna says RSV wasn't even mentioned in her antenatal classes and is calling on the NHS to provide parents with better education on the virus. In the UK about 30,000 babies and children under five need hospital treatment every year due to RSV, though fewer than 90 now die from it. Covid lockdowns left many with no immunity Yet new figures show cases are higher than normal, and experts believe it's because Covid lockdowns have left many children with no immunity. In the week ending October 23, all cases of RSV increased by 8.3 per cent, according to the Health Service Journal (HSJ). Lorna, a senior safety scientist, first noticed Caolan, then eight months, was ill in January 2021. To begin with, she and husband Russell, 41, a police officer, brushed off his flu-like symptoms as a virus he would 'get over'. 'I'd never even heard of){kind=link}
FINDING your baby floppy, unresponsive and even blue from lack of oxygen is every parent’s worst nightmare.
But it’s what can happen to babies and young children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – a common but little-known illness that can be fatal.
It’s a leading cause of infant mortality and is especially dangerous to babies born prematurely.
Cases of the bug, which infects the lungs, have surged recently, especially among under-fives.
Lorna Smith had never heard of RSV before young son Caolan was struck down with it.