Warwickshire mum shares her experience of RSV
Her little boy was put into a medically induced coma
A Warwickshire mum is talking about her experience of RSV after her little boy was put in an induced coma.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can lead to severe lung infections such as pneumonia and infant bronchiolitis and, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is a leading cause of infant mortality globally.
On his 1st Birthday in 2022, Jax was hospitalised with RSV which turned to Bronchiolitis, before Rhino/Enterovirus grew on the secretions in his lungs leaving him to fight two viruses.
His mum Hattie said:
"When I first took him to the doctors we were then referred straight to Warwick hospital, I would never of expected this to be more than a one night stay let alone turn in to him being sent to Intensive Care, and the horrific journey we were then to go on."
Referencing back to the horrific time Hattie shared this important message:
"If your child is sucking in, in their chest or you have any worries of temperature, not eating or no wet nappies just get your child to hospital immediately, get to A&E. Timing is everything and they said to us if we had left it any later things could have been a lot lot worse."
It's been a long recovery for Jax who also contracted RSV for a second time in November 2023 but luckily an overnight stay in Warwick hospital and oxygen saw him discharged the next day, three days before the arrival of his little sister.
With the new vaccine available to pregnant women from next month Hattie didn't hesitate in saying she would have it if needed as she has seen what RSV can do and never wants to go through it again.
In a post on her Facebook page Hattie praised the amazing NHS staff and said:
"When he was put in his drug induced coma, and then into the ambulance to Stoke, the paramedics gave him this dog teddy, then Stoke hospital made sure he was always holding this teddy throughout his whole stay. When they did his hourly turns on the bed to make sure he didn’t bruise or get sores, each time they tucked his dog in with him.
Jax was paralysed and couldn’t move, but they always tucked his teddy into his arm or hand.
We will keep this dog forever, not because we want to remember this awful experience, but to show Jax just how strong he was, and he can do anything, as he’s a fighter. This little teddy means so much to us, and will make us never forget to cherish every single tiny moment with Jax.
Stoke hospital also made him this diary of his time in ICU explaining everything to him so that he can understand when he’s older, and see for himself just how strong he was.
The UK will become the first country in the world to have a national programme that uses the same vaccine to protect both newborns and older adults against the virus.
The rollout, which will start from 1 September 2024 in England, includes a vaccine for pregnant women over 28 weeks to help protect their newborn babies, a routine programme for those over 75 and a one-off campaign for people aged 75 to 79.
These are the groups at the greatest risk from RSV, based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
RSV is relatively unknown despite infecting around 90% of children within the first 2 years of life.
Each year in the UK, RSV accounts for around 30,000 hospitalisations in children aged under 5 and is responsible for 20 to 30 infant deaths.
You can read more about the new vaccine on the Gov.uk website.